


When Hermione said "NO!"

by LordCroussette



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Angst, Bad Dursleys, Childhood, Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore accidently ruin Harry and Hermione's childhood, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, Harmony - Freeform, Harry and Hermione have a Daughter, Harry/Hermione - Freeform, Hogwarts, Love, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Order of the Pheonix, Parenthood, Philosopher's Stone, Prisoner of Azkaban, Retelling, Very Slightly Manipulative Dumbledore, goblet of fire - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27474469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordCroussette/pseuds/LordCroussette
Summary: What if Harry and Hermione had first met when they were four-years-old? What if they had become best friends? What if Hermione's parents had proposed the idea to adopt Harry into their family and Hermione had angrily shouted "NO!" when they had asked her opinion? And what if Harry had witnessed it all?When it is time to go to Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione meet again in the Hogwarts Express. How would they react and treat each other if Harry never forgot about Hermione's angry rejection?Years later, Harry and Hermione tell their story to their five-years-old daughter Rose. A story about how they became friends, how it broke and how they learned to be friends again and how to love each other...
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 73





	1. Daughter on sugar.

**Author's Note:**

> The original idea for this fic came from reading "The Accidental Animagus" fanfic by White Squirrel. (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9863146/1/The-Accidental-Animagus) Early in the story, the Grangers think about the idea of getting guardianship of Harry and want to ask Hermione about her opinion. Obviously, Hermione say yes but I wondered what would had happened if she said no. And thus, this fic was born.

Harry Potter had just come home from a long day of work at the Auror Office. Today was Halloween, October 31 st 2006 and witches and wizards all around the country were still celebrating Lord Voldemort’s First Downfall. The  Aurors always had more work to do on Halloween as people would celebrate together and, in doing so, would often break the law.

For a long time, Halloween wasn’t a happy day for Harry. Halloween 1981 had been the day his parents had been murdered and the day he had been made an orphan. It was the day he was brought to his only living relatives, the Dursleys. For the next nine Halloweens, Harry was forced to stay locked-up in his cupboard alone while his Aunt and Uncle went trick-or-treating with his cousin Dudley. A few years later, Halloween 1985 became a contender for worse Halloween alongside 1981. In 1991, in his first year at Hogwarts, Harry had ended-up fighting a troll. In 1992, the Chamber of Secrets was opened again. In 1993, he had been forced to stay in the castle alone while all of his friends went to Hogsmeade and that evening, mass-murderer Sirius Black destroyed the painting of the Fat Lady trying to enter Gryffindor Tower. The fact that he later learned that his godfather wasn’t a murderer and had come to Hogwarts to try to protect Harry didn’t change the fact that it had been another shitty Halloween. In 1994, his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, starting nearly two long years of people trying to slander, smear and discredit him. First by his fellow students and classmates, second by the medias such as the Daily Prophet and third, by the Ministry of Magic itself. 1994 had been the last shitty Halloween that Harry had to go through has nothing major happened in the following ones, although it stayed the day where Harry would mourn his parents’ deaths.

Halloween 2000 had been his first good Halloween and his best one to date. He had come home from a long day of work to find his wife grinning from ear to ear. Harry couldn’t help but smile whenever he saw his wife’s grin. Whenever she was happy, he was happy.

“What’s the grin for?” he asked, curiously.

“I learned something today... I’m pregnant!” she said, grinning.

“You’re... Really!?” he squeaked, barely containing the burst of happiness in his heart.

His wife nodded, tears of joy slowly falling down her cheeks. Harry took her in her arms and lifted her off the ground, laughing. His wife shrieked in shock before she laughed as well. For the first time since 1981, Harry celebrated something on Halloween. For the first time since 1981, Halloween had become a good day for Harry.

Today was Rose Lily Potter’s first-time trick-or-treating. Harry had hoped to be there for his daughter’s first trick-or-treat but work had kept it behind. Days like today really made him reconsider becoming an Auror. He knew that the current Professor for Defence Against the Darks Arts was planning on retiring at the end of the year and the idea of applying for the post crossed his mind.

Harry went upstairs at the Potter Cottage in the village of Shipton’s Lynn, not to be confused with James and Lily Potter’s ruined one in Godric’s Hollow. Harry heard a flew of activity and giggling from one of the rooms. Rose’s room. Leaning on the doorframe, Harry smiled at his giggling daughter, who was quickly preparing herself for  bed. Harry remembered how surprised he had been when she had been born. It seemed that both she and he had followed the rule of looking a lot like their fathers but having their mothers’ eyes. It hadn’t been rare to heard that Rose looked like a female version of Harry. Just like him, she also had the unruly black Potter hair, except that they had learned quickly enough that it was more of a challenge to maintain for a girl than it was for a boy.

Rose didn’t take long to notice her father. “Daddy!” she cried happily before Rose ran toward him.

“Hey sweetie!” said Harry, dropping on his knee, barely doing so in time before he caught her in his arms.

“Daddy!” she repeated. “Mum and I went trick-or-treating!”

“Really!?” said Harry, feigning his surprise. “Did you have fun?”

“Yes! We got a lot of candy and chocolate!”

“You didn’t eat too much, did you?” he asked suspiciously. Rose was nearly  jumping in his arms.

“I tried to keep the amount she ate low but I think she took a few behind my back.” said a female voice behind his back. Harry turned around and smiled at the sight of a grinning Hermione Potter, the woman he had married in 1998. Already eight years of a beautiful and happy marriage.

Had you asked Harry about what outcome he predicted from his relationship with one Hermione Granger in 1991, a long and happy marriage wouldn’t even have made it the top 100. 

“Hello beautiful.” said Harry to Hermione.

“Hello my dear husband.” grinned Hermione, welcoming him with a kiss.

“ Ewwww !” said Rose to the amusement of her parents.

“Kissing is not ‘ Ewwwww ’.” said Hermione, rolling her eyes before looking mischievously at Harry. “Trust me Rose, you will like kissing when you will be older.”

“W-What?” said Harry, palling. His fatherly senses had just flared up.

“What? You don’t expect your daughter to be celibate her whole life, do you?” said a smirking Hermione.

“Not really... but she’s  five -years-old!” whined Harry. “It’s too early for her poor father to think about that!”

“Well, if she becomes anything like her parents, maybe she will have a strong  libid -”

“NO!” shouted Harry, putting fingers in his ears. “Please don’t finish that!” he added quickly, he really didn’t need the mental image. It was a good thing that Rose didn’t have a single clue what her parents were talking about.

“Fine.” said Hermione, barely containing her laugher. “You are so easy! You will however have to get used to the idea in a few years.”

“Fine.” conceded Harry. “But it won’t be for another fifteen years at the minimum. Until then, Rose stays Harry’s little princess.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Fine.” she said, not thinking it at all. “Go change, you are still in your dirty  Aurors robes.” said Hermione to Harry. She then added to Rose “And you Miss, go brush your teeth.”

“Yes Mummy.” said Rose before she ran toward the bathroom. Harry meanwhile went to his and Hermione’s bedroom. Harry put that pair of Auror robes in the wash before grabbing a white t-shirt and green pyjama pants. He quickly put them on before going back to Rose’s bedroom. By that point, Rose had been tucked into bed but it didn’t take long for Harry to realise that Rose wouldn’t be falling asleep anytime soon. Rose had been sent to bed a bit earlier that she usually was but Harry knew that it was so that Rose would have more time to fall asleep. Hermione was sitting on a small bench by Rose’s side and Harry sat alongside her.

Also realising that Rose wouldn’t be falling asleep anytime soon, Hermione said “What about we tell you a story Rose?”

“Yes! I want to hear a story!” said the little black-haired five-years-old girl with chocolate brown eyes.

“Alright, what story do you want to hear?” asked Harry.

“What about we tell you how your Mum and Dad first met?” asked Hermione. Harry immediately tensed.

The Wizarding World believed that Harry and Hermione had first met on the Hogwarts Express in their first year. It was a lie. Only a few people knew of the truth: The Potters, the Grangers, the Dursleys, the Weasleys and the Lupins, the last two because the couple had told them. One thing that Harry and Hermione had kept from nearly everyone else was the fact that the couple had first met during the summer of 1984, when they were only four-years-old.

What people also believed was that Harry and Hermione had been indifferent toward each other before the troll on Halloween 1981. Again, this was a lie. The truth was that back then, Harry strongly disliked Hermione while Hermione liked Harry but wouldn’t dare approach him. They didn’t like to think about the first few years of their relationship. Hermione was the one who hated thinking about it the most so Harry didn’t understand why he wanted to tell the story to their daughter.

“Hermione?” he asked in confusion. Hermione only sent her a look he had often seen ever since they had become friends: ‘Don’t worry, I know what I am doing’.

“Yes!” said Rose. “Can I  hear it?”

Harry sighed. “Alright. Our story begins in the summer of 1984...”


	2. Neighbourhood Get-Together

Harry couldn’t believe his luck. For once, his Aunt and Uncle were bringing him to a neighbourhood get-together! Those get-togethers were rare and the only times it had happened in the past, his Aunt and Uncle had left him with someone else. He still remembered the last time it had happened. The Dursleys had brought him to Uncle Vernon’s sister, Aunt Marge. Harry hated it there, and the woman seemed to think that she needed to offer proof that she didn’t like Harry. Every time they were in the same room, she would say something against him or his parents.

Harry didn’t remember his parents. He had asked a few months before where they were and her Aunt had answered, saying that they had gotten killed in a car crash and left him behind. Harry didn’t really understand what ‘killed’ meant but even at  four -years-old, he knew that it was bad.

He had often wondered why his relatives didn’t treat him like they did with Dudley, his cousin. After all, Dudley was easily their top priority. Harry believed that it was simply because he was their nephew, not their son, and never really saw anything wrong with it for a long time. He hated how they treated him but because he thought that it was normal, he had started to believe it when Uncle Vernon or Aunt Marge would call him an ungrateful brat.

That belief took a hit when Dudley invited his first friend home that summer. That friend had been treated a lot better than he, Harry, had ever been. Shouldn’t he be treated worse? After all, Harry was treated worse than Dudley but that was because Dudley was their son while he was their nephew. But this boy was Dudley’s friend. The friend of their son. Shouldn’t Harry have higher priority over him? But yet, every time one of Dudley’s friends came home, he would be treated a lot better than Harry ever was.

Little Harry didn’t want to think about that however. Today, he was going to his first neighbourhood get-together. He was wondering if he could meet someone new and make friends. Harry didn’t have a single friend. For some reasons, Dudley’s friends never wanted to be his friends as well.

Today’s get-together was hosted by the new family that had moved in Privet Drive. The Grangers were dentists and because of that, his Aunt and Uncle wanted to become their friends. Harry didn’t understand why being a dentist appealed to his relatives. Maybe they had a few bad teeth? Uncle Vernon parked the car near the Grangers’ Mercedes-Benz W124. Harry saw the look that crossed his Uncle’s face at the sight of the car, a look he hadn’t given to any other car stationed around the house. While he didn’t know what that look meant, he knew he didn’t like it but forced himself to ignore it.

“Here we are.” said his Uncle, turning the engine off. Dudley and Aunt Petunia immediately got out of the car and Aunt Petunia led Dudley toward the house. Once the doors of the car had closed, Uncle Vernon turned back toward his nephew.

“Now, you...” he started. “I don’t want to hear anything about freakish business while we are at the Grangers or you will be in your cupboard until the Christmas Holidays are over. Is it understood?” said Uncle Vernon.

“Yes sir.” quickly answered Harry. Harry knew that by ‘freakish business’, his Uncle meant something in the same kind as what had happened to him a few days ago. His Aunt had been tired of his hair and had decided to shave it all, all except a small fringe to hide the scar on the forehead. Harry had barely slept that night, terrorised of how people would react the next morning when he and Dudley would be dropped-off at pre-school. Fortunately for him, his hair had somehow completely grown back between the moment he had fallen asleep and the moment he had woken up, vanishing any proof that her Aunt had shaved his head. His relatives hadn’t been happy and had locked him in his cupboard whenever he was home. The only reason he had been allowed out today was because they couldn’t leave him at home alone and nobody was available to take him.

“Good. Now get out and you better don’t annoy anyone here.” said Uncle Vernon before himself leaving the car. Harry followed him a few seconds after. 

Harry was nervous. His mind kept switching between the excitement of meeting other kids and potentially making friends and between the fear of annoying anyone and being excluded by other kids. At that point, a man with brown hair had answered the door where his Aunt and cousin were.

“I’m Petunia Dursley and this is my son Dudley. Welcome to the neighbourhood!” said Aunt Petunia to the man.

“Thank you Mrs. Dursley. My name is Daniel Granger and welcome to our new home.” he said before he noticed Uncle Vernon and a small boy walking in the man’s shadow.

“Vernon Dursley.” said Uncle Vernon, introducing himself.

“Daniel Granger.” repeated Mr. Granger. The men shook each other’s hand before Mr. Granger took a glance toward Harry.

“Ah, this is our... nephew, Harry Potter.” said Uncle Vernon, nearly spitting the word ‘nephew’. Mr. Granger had noticed and raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment any further.

“Well...” he started before making place for them. “Come in!” he said. The Dursleys quickly entered the house, followed by Harry. A lot of families from around the neighbourhood had already arrived. Harry didn’t care however and looked around for other kids of his age. Harry saw Mr. Granger walk toward a woman in the living room who had a small girl around her legs. The girl looked at Harry nervously.

Harry was disappointed that the only kids he saw were Dudley’s friends. Dudley immediately went toward his friends and ignored everyone else. Harry knew that Dudley’s friends didn’t like him so he didn’t dare come close to them. The only kid he didn’t recognise was the girl wrapped around a woman’s leg. She had brown, bushy hair and chocolate brown eyes which, Harry realised, were the same colours as Mr. Granger. Harry realised that she must be his daughter, which would make the woman Mrs. Granger. Harry didn’t dare approach her either. Not because he didn’t want to meet her and get to know her but because she was close to a lot of adults, including her mother and he didn’t want to bother them. Instead, Harry took to wandering around for a few minutes.

Unknowingly, the girl had noticed him. Hermione Granger didn’t like when there were strangers in the house. She hated it when there was so many of them at once. Her parents had told her that the get-together would be the opportunity to make friends. Hermione never had friends before and she had hoped that she would find a few in this new neighbourhood. When the first children of her age had arrived, she had tried to talk to them, to make friends but the kids had told her off and said “Go annoy other people.”

It had taken everything for Hermione not to lock herself in her room and cry. Instead, Hermione had come to her mother and hadn’t left since. As families arrived, so had children. The ones of her age had all met together with the original kids that Hermione had approached and all looked like they were friends so Hermione hadn’t tried again to get closer.

The last family to arrive, the Dursleys, had arrived with two boys of her age. One was fat and looked spoiled, just like most of the other kids. Hermione had quickly decided not to come closer to him either. The other kid however looked small and thin. He had big round wireframe glasses and bright green eyes. The boys’ eyes looked around nervously. Hermione was glad to see that when the boy’s eyes met the group of kids where the fat one was walking toward; his eyes had showed a hint of nervousness accompanied with discontent. It seemed like the boy shared her opinion of the kids of the neighbourhood. His eyes then glanced toward her. For a moment, his face showed hope, until he looked to her mother and then all the adults she was talking to. He then looked disappointed before he looked around the house and started wandering around.

Hermione might had lost hope of making friends today when the bad kids had pushed her back earlier but she didn’t want to lose that opportunity as well. She could see in his eyes that she and the boy shared a similar view about the whole situation. She decided to let him walk around for a few minutes, just to be sure he wasn’t friends with the other kids before she approached him.

“Hi.” said Hermione to the boy, nervously.

“Hi.” he answered, as nervous as she was.

“I’m Hermione.” she said. “Hermione Granger.”

“Harry. Harry Potter.” said Harry.

The two children looked at each other for a few instants before both said “Would you like to be friends?” to each other. Both looked surprised before they started laughing.

Unknown to the two children, two couples had seen them. The Dursleys looked that them with irritation while the Grangers were smiling at them.

“I would like to be your friend.” answered Harry.

“Thank you!” said Hermione, smiling. “We  just moved; I don’t have any other friend.”

“I don’t have any other friends either, you are my first friend...”

* * *

“And that’s how Mummy and Daddy first met.” said Harry, smiling sadly at Hermione.

“That’s so cool!” said Rose, not noticing the sadness in her parents’ eyes, for the next part would be hard to tell. “Does that mean that I already met my future husband?” she asked. Harry couldn’t help the ‘eep’ that escaped his mouth, to his wife’s amusement.

“Maybe...” said Harry with wide eyes. “But it’s not something you will have to think about until you are at least thirty!” he added quickly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Harry, we got married at eighteen.”

“So?”

Hermione sighed. She knew that Harry wouldn’t always be overprotective with Rose, at least relationship-wise, but she guessed that her husband had a hard time imagining his little princess all grown-up. Imagining five-years-old Rose being a married adult woman just didn’t compute in his mind and probably wouldn’t until her early teenage years. Not that Hermione wanted Rose to be married before she had graduated Hogwarts but, unlike Harry, she had more realistic expectations.

“Alright, not before thirty.” said Hermione, knowing that it wouldn’t change anything. Harry beamed at her.

“What happened after you met?” asked Rose. Harry and Hermione immediately tensed before looking at each other sadly.

“Your mother and I stayed best-friends for the next year.” said Harry. “Hermione and I would almost always meet at your grandparents’ house. For the following year, we were the best of friends, always spending time together. Doing so brought me to the attention of Granddad Dan and Grandma Emma.”

“You see,” continued Hermione. “ Grandmum and Granddad were noticing things about Harry. For instance, Harry was always wearing clothes that were too big for him. He was also always eating like he was preparing himself not to eat for a long period of time, sometime even hiding small things in his pockets like cookies or bread slices. And Harry was always refusing to invite me or my parents at his relatives.”

“It didn’t take long for Dan and Emma to get a small idea of what was happening at the Dursleys. They didn’t know to what extent, nor how long it had lasted but one thing was sure, they didn’t have a single proof except for my behaviour. They had also noticed that I wasn’t happy with the Dursleys and the Dursleys weren’t happy with me.”

“Your Grandparents then got the idea of adopting Harry into the family.” said Hermione. “However, they weren't expecting problems coming from the  least likely of places...”


	3. Adoption...?

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” asked Dan to Emma while they were driving their car down to Privet Drive.

“Yes.” answered Emma. “Let’s do this.”

The Grangers’ stay in Little Whinging wasn’t as good as they originally expected. Emma and Dan’s goals when they moved in was to find a nice place to settle-in where they could further progress their careers as dentists. They also wanted Hermione to make a lot of friends.

Many problems had erupted in their short stay in Privet Drive. Their first problem was that they had a hard time finding a job. They had originally planned to build their own practice but realised soon after moving that the market simply wasn’t there. There already were a few practices opened and it was more than enough for the small town. Both found jobs available but not in the same practices, which was a problem since the couple wanted to work together.

Their second problem was that they didn’t like the neighbourhood, or more specifically: the neighbours. The Grangers weren’t in gossiping but it seemed like everyone else was. Dan had once said that adults at Privet Drive had something stuck up their arses. The Grangers had quickly gained an unpleasant reputation at Privet Drive. Not because people saw them as an unsuccessful family, but because they weren’t into the same social circles as the rest of the neighbourhood.

The third problem was Hermione’s friendships, or lack of. Her only friend was Harry Potter, the nephew of the Dursleys. The Grangers liked Harry but they had hoped that Hermione would make more than one friend. Instead, Hermione had often come back home crying because the other children in her classes were mean to her. Sometimes it was because they didn’t appreciate that Hermione knew more than them and spent more time studying than playing, sometimes it was because they didn’t want anyone to be friends with Harry. Hermione’s loyalty to her friend never faltered but it had resulted in multiple  occurrences where she had arrived home crying.

The only reason the Grangers hadn’t left Privet Drive yet was because of Harry. Sweet little Harry was Hermione’s best friend. Both were complimenting each other very well. However, the Grangers had quickly noticed Harry’s odd behaviour. As medical professionals, Dan and Emma had realised early on that Harry was mistreated, if not outright abused. They had subtly tried a few times to make him open-up but Harry always withdrew whenever they got close to how his life was at home. They wanted to help change Harry’s situation but the lack of proof, apart from Harry’s  behaviour didn’t help them.

The Grangers had also heard about the rumour around the neighbourhood that Harry, a four-years-old boy, was a delinquent. The first time they had heard it, they had laughed, not believing it for a second. The couple wouldn’t be surprised if the Dursleys themselves had started the rumour.

Dan and Emma had enough after a few months and decided to leave the neighbourhood. Dan’s father had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had been moved permanently to the hospital. The Grangers wanted to be closer to the dying man and spend as much time as possible before he passed away. Dan’s father, upon learning that he would never leave the hospital, had decided to leave his house in Crawley to his son and his family. The house had been in the family for a few generations so the Grangers didn’t feel too bad moving in so soon.

Before doing so however, they had decided to see if they could adopt Harry. It wasn’t a secret at the Grangers that Harry wasn’t happy at the Dursleys, nor were the Dursleys happy to have him. As the Grangers liked him and that he was Hermione’s best friend, the Grangers decided to try and see if they could adopt Harry or, at least, get guardianship of the boy before leaving with him and Hermione. They had decided to ask the Dursleys first and, if they were agreeable, ask Hermione about her opinion after. They didn’t know if they would go through with it if she said no, but it wasn’t something the couple expected to happen. The Grangers had already started filling the proper paperwork and even had a social-worker visit them.

It was because of this reason that the Grangers were currently driving down Privet Drive more than a year after they had first arrived. They were seeking the Dursleys to see if they would accept. The Grangers parked their Mercedes in front of Number Four Privet Drive before activating the doorbell.

Harry had been locked-up in his cupboard ever since he had come back home from school. Harry and Hermione had been surprised that their teacher’s hair had turned blue during one of their classes. Neither had mentioned it any further apart from saying that it would have been better had it happened a few days later on Halloween but both she and him had been embarrassed about it. Their teacher had then spent the rest of the day giving dirty looks to Harry and, unsurprisingly to the five-years-old, the moment he had arrived home, his relatives had locked-him in his cupboard for doing some ‘freakish thing’.

Harry suddenly heard the doorbell ring. He knew that he now had to be silent. It was the second most important rule at the Dursleys behind ‘Don’t do freakish things.’ If someone rang the doorbell while he was in his cupboard, he had to stay silent.

Harry heard Aunt Petunia open the door. “Mr. and Mrs. Granger! What a surprise!” she said in a sweet sugary tone. Harry couldn’t help but freeze nervously in his bed. The Grangers were here?

“Hello Mrs. Dursley. Can our husband and I talk to you?” asked Mrs. Granger. Harry was hoping that he hadn’t caused any trouble at the Grangers. He was wondering if Hermione was here as well but then remembered that Hermione had mentioned that her Grandmother was in town and had planned on taking her to eat at a restaurant.

“Is the boy causing problems?” automatically asked Uncle Vernon the moment he had entered the room. Clearly, he had been thinking through a similar line of thought as Harry.

“No, no, nothing of the sort. Harry has been a perfect angel. But it is about him...” said Mr. Granger.

Harry could practically hear the frown in Aunt Petunia’s voice. “What about him?”

“Listen, we will make it short. It is obvious for both Emma and I that Harry doesn’t like living here nor do you like having him in your home.”

“And how is this your business?” Harry heard Aunt Petunia ask with a cold tone. This time, he could easily imagine Aunt Petunia’s face. She probably looked like she had bitten in a lemon.

“We want to adopt Harry.” said Mrs. Granger. Harry’s eyes widened in shock. “Or at least get guardianship of him.”

“We want Harry to live with us.” added Mr. Granger. Unknown to the adults, Harry was grinning in his cupboard. He was going to have a real family!

“You want to adopt him? Why?” asked Uncle Vernon with disbelief.

“For many reasons. We always wanted another child but due to complications with Hermione’s birth, it just isn’t possible for me to have any more children.” said Emma sadly. “Another reason is also that we are moving to Crawley soon and want to bring Harry with us, both as Hermione’s best friend and, hopefully, her future little brother.”

Harry’s little heart was bursting in joy. He was going to have a family, a real family! He was going to live with the Grangers and leave Privet Drive!

“Fine.” he heard Aunt Petunia say. “Do you have the papers?” she asked.

“Not yet, I am afraid.” said Mr. Granger. “We wanted to seek your opinion first before moving forward.”

“Then, when you get them; you can come here and we will sign the papers.” said Uncle Vernon in a tone that didn’t let anything open to discussion.

* * *

“So  Grandmum and Granddad wanted to adopt Dad?” asked Rose.

“They did.” answered Harry with a small sad smile.

“Why didn’t they?” she asked.

“That would be because of what happened when they asked for my opinion the following day.” whispered Hermione, shame evident in her voice. Harry put a comforting arm around her waist.

* * *

Today was the last day before Halloween and after classes had been over, the Grangers had taken Hermione to eat one last ice-cream together before winter settled in. Dan and Emma brought their daughter to the local ice-cream parlour. Unsurprisingly, the shop wasn’t attended all that much at this time of the year but it wasn’t a problem for the Grangers. The three took their usual selection of chocolate ice-cream for Dan, strawberries for Emma and mint with chocolate chips for Hermione.

Hermione had already eaten more than half her small ice-cream cone by the time the Grangers had sat at one table. The family had done small talk until they were all finished with their ice-cream. It was then time for the important talk.

“Hermione, we have to tell you something. Our family will be moving back to Crawley soon.” said Mr. Granger.

Hermione gaped at her parents. “We are moving? Again?” she asked sadly.

“I’m sorry but yes.” answered her father. 

“When?” she asked.

“In the next few weeks probably.”

“Where?”

“You know that Granddad is sick and left us his house, right?” At Hermione’s nod, he continued. “We decided to move there. Your mother and I already checked to see if we could open a practice there and we found that the demand was a lot higher than here.”

“But what about Harry?” asked Hermione with teary eyes.

“Hermione...” started Mrs. Granger. “Do you remember when you said that Harry wasn’t happy at his home?”

“Yes. It was this summer.” answered Hermione, not seeing where it was going.

“Well, we decided that we wanted to bring Harry so that he could live with us. We already started looking to adopt him and the Dursleys agreed to sign any adoption of guardianship paper we would give them. Before we do that however, we wanted to ask about your opinion. We won’t bring Harry with us if you don’t want to.”

Hermione was looking at them with wide eyes. She was about to say ‘Yes, of course’ when a sudden wave of bad feelings crossed her body. Her feelings toward the situation shifted from happiness to anger. She didn’t know why but suddenly; she didn’t want Harry to live with them.

“NO!” she shouted. Hermione had the face red in anger.

“W-What?” asked Mr. Granger, shocked. They thought that asking for Hermione’s opinion was only formalities and never expected her to reject the idea so violently.

“Why?” asked Mrs. Granger, as shocked as her husband.

“I DON’T WANT HIM WITH US!” she spat.

“That’s not a valid reason!” said Mr. Granger, his voice raising.

“I DON’T CARE!” screamed Hermione.

“Alright young lady. We are going home right now!” said an angry Mrs. Granger before she and her husband dragged their daughter toward the car. Unbeknown to any of them, a small boy with messy black hair, bright green eyes and round wired glasses had witnessed it all. Harry Potter’s heart was hurting, just like someone had punched him hard. He had just seen his best friend; his only friend angrily rejects the idea of him living with her family.

Quietly crying, Harry turned around and walked home. He knew his friendship with Hermione was too good to be true. He had wondered many times why people didn’t like him, why he wasn’t loved. Being Hermione’s friend had helped him see that he was worthy of it, or so he thought.  Seeing Hermione so casually spitting on their friendship broke Harry’s heart and Harry realised that he just seen the proof that nobody would ever like him, would ever love him.

* * *

Rose was looking at her parents with wide eyes. Her father looked like he was observing something distant, lost in the memories. He was holding her mother who was gripping at his waist tightly, crying in his chest. Harry rubbed a hand on Hermione’s back while the other was in her hair, hoping to calm her.

A few minutes later, after she had calmed enough, Hermione muttered “You never told me that you had witnessed it all.”

“I didn’t want you to know, I knew you would feel even worse.” he answered simply.

“Why did you say no, Mum?” asked Rose quietly. The shocked and disappointed tone that five-years-old Rose had used in her question made Hermione cry again. Hearing her five-years-old daughter, who was a few months younger than she had been back then ask her this question with this tone broke Hermione’s heart.

“It’s complicated.” answered Harry. “You will learn and understand why later in the story. Instead, let me continue with the tale of what happened the next time we saw each other...”


	4. Hogwarts Express

Nearly six years had gone past ever since Harry had witnessed Hermione Granger shout angrily at her parents when they had dared suggest to have him live with them. Part of Harry hadn’t wanted to believe Hermione’s reaction at first.

When Harry arrived home, he immediately went for his cupboard. This had been the first of a few times where Harry had willingly gone there without the Dursleys ordering him to. Harry had barely slept that night, having nightmares about Hermione shouting at him.

The next morning, on Halloween, Harry had gone to school as usual. He hoped to see Hermione, that she would tell him that it was just a joke or that it had never happened but she never showed-up that day. When classes ended, Harry ran toward the Grangers, hoping to catch sight of them, hoping to see them, that they would reassure him and tell him that he had nothing to worry about. The moment he walked around the corner and saw the house however, he knew something was wrong. First, there wasn’t any cars around. Second, the curtains around the windows had disappeared, offering a view of the inside of the house. That view shattered what remaining hope Harry had. The house was empty. The Grangers had left without him, and without even saying goodbye. They had left him behind with the Dursleys. Harry barely remembered falling on his knees, crying.

The boy eventually returned home where an Uncle Vernon with an evil grin was waiting for him. Harry knew what that grin meant. It meant that his relatives were going to torment him, to humiliate him, to make him feel bad.

“So, your only ‘friends’ the Grangers left and without you! It seemed like they finally realised how much of a Freak you are and decided you weren’t worth their time anymore! They told me how the only reason you didn’t come with them was because their daughter, your ‘friend’ said no. What a friend she is, right?” laughed Uncle Vernon.

Harry didn’t know whether to be angry and try to defend Hermione or lock himself in his cupboard and cry. The fact was that Harry believed what his Uncle was telling him. Hermione had seemed so ecstatic when they became friends, saying that she never had one before. Harry had revealed things to her that he hadn’t told anyone else, ever. And yet, Hermione was mad and angry when her parents suggested the idea of having Harry live with her and her family. Was she ever a friend? Harry didn’t exactly believe so anymore. So, Harry chose the second option, he walked toward his cupboard and quietly cried in his old bed. It didn’t take long before Uncle Vernon locked the cupboard and he and Dudley went trick-or-treating. Aunt Petunia stayed but only to give candy to fellow children that came ringing the doorbell.

Harry spent the next five years and a half feeling more alone that he had ever been in his life. After the Grangers had left, Dudley and his friends had started a new game which they called ‘Harry-Hunting.’ Harry hated it as it consisted of Dudley and his friends running around and trying to catch him. Whenever they managed to do it, they would beat him for a few minutes before they let go of him and left him lying on the ground, bloody and bruised. It was also around that time that Vernon and Petunia took their abuse a step further. In early 1986, when Harry had another bout of ‘Freakishness’, Vernon had taken his belt and hit him in the back a few times before locking the crying boy in his cupboard. The first instances were pretty rare, only when unexplainable things around Harry happened which usually was around twice a year but gradually, things became worse and worse. Her Aunt would also join in hitting him. It usually happened if Harry entered the house wet or dirty. His Aunt would usually hit with on the head with whatever she had in her hands at the time. The best was when she had something light like a magazine or a box of tissues. The worse was when she had cooking pans in her hands. Those times would hurt, a lot.

That summer, Aunt Petunia started teaching Harry how to cook eggs, bacon, sausages and toasts. It wasn’t for the goodness of her heart but because she considered that it was time Harry took over making breakfast for his relatives. Other chores were quickly adding up and by the point Harry was eight, he was doing nearly everything needed to maintain the house. The only happy year in his life seemed so far away already...

His feelings toward Hermione were another thing that changed as years progressed. Harry had spent the first year after the Grangers had left in denial. While the logical part of his mind kept trying to tell the rest that the Grangers had left without him and were never coming back, Harry stayed hopeful that they would come back for him. They never did.

After nearly a year, Harry finally realised that they were gone for good, and so Harry began to look back and see what had changed in his friendship with Hermione. After all, only a short amount of time had passed between the moment the Grangers had shown-up and proposed the idea of adopting him and the day where the Grangers left the neighbourhood without a trace. The only reason he could think of was because Hermione had seemingly hated the idea of him living with them. Harry began to resent Hermione. He felt betrayed at her actions. Harry knew that had the roles been reversed, he would have gladly accepted her in his family without a second thought. But Hermione hadn’t. Not only that, she had become angry at the suggestion. Harry didn't know what he had been for Hermione but a friend certainty couldn’t have been. He felt like it was partly her fault that Harry was stuck with his relatives.

As things got worse at the Dursleys, so did his opinion of Hermione Granger. Thinking about her both made his heart ache and his mind angry. It took a lot of time, but after a while, Harry stopped thinking about Hermione.

Harry hadn’t thought about Hermione for a long time when his Uncle drove him to King’s Cross Station where he would be able to start his journey toward Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school of magic. While looking around for Platform-Nine-And-Three-Quarters, Harry realised that he could probably get proper friends for once. Hermione crossed his mind for the first time in nearly two years and his heart ached again. The pain of being abandoned by his supposed best friend still pained Harry a lot, even six years later. At that point, he had just accepted that the Grangers never cared about him in the first place, and neither did Hermione. He didn’t want to see her ever again but, then again, it wasn’t like it would be a problem at Hogwarts.

Harry found a family of red-heads who helped him find the Platform before Harry climbed onboard the train and found a compartment for himself. He was delighted when the youngest boy of the Weasley family, Ronald, joined him in his compartment. The two boys quickly became friends after some awkward talk about 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' and the Weasley Family. The two friends were first visited by the Trolley lady where Harry bought many sweets for both him and Ron. Then, they were visited by a round-faced boy who asked them if they had seen his toad.

Ron was teaching Harry about Quidditch when suddenly, the door opened and a girl entered. A very familiar looking girl, with bown bushy hair and chocolate brown eyes. Harry immediately tensed before groaning internally.

“Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost...” she started before her eyes met Harry’s. “H-Harry?”

Harry scowled at his former best-friend, the one that had unknowingly hurt him so much. During the years, he had imagined many reunions with Hermione. The first ones showed Hermione apologizing for forgetting him and Harry accepting her apologies before it changed to Harry giving her a piece of his mind. Harry however knew that neither of those scenarios were likely to happen. The first one was very unlikely as Harry wasn’t ready to accept any apologies anytime soon and the second was just plain immature. It would relieve him of part of his anger but wouldn’t do anything else except hurt Hermione. While he was angry at Hermione, he still felt the remnants of their friendship in his heart and didn’t want to hurt her more than necessary. Instead, he decided that the best thing to do would be to ignore her.

Harry looked at a wide-eyed Hermione before he turned back toward Ron and ate a Pumpkin Pastry.

“Harry?” asked Hermione again, nervously and quietly.

Ron, who was witnessing the whole thing saw Harry’s hurt and anger and said “I don’t think he want to speak to you.” to the girl.

“H-Harry...” she said, weakly.

“Leave!” said Harry suddenly and loudly, still not looking at Hermione. “Please.” he added quietly. Harry barely saw Hermione nod before she ran away.

Ron raised to his feet and closed the door of the compartment. “Who is she?” he asked to his new friend.

“Hermione Granger. We knew each other a long time ago.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

While Ron wasn’t the best at dealing with emotions and feelings, he could see that whatever had once happened between Harry and Hermione still pained him a lot. He decided to drop it and continue explaining Quidditch, something Harry was extremely grateful for.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hermione had ran toward her compartment crying. While her life had been a lot more enjoyable than Harry’s, it had been very lonely and quiet ever since they had left Privet Drive.

When her parents brought her back home after the discussion, they had sent Hermione to her room. Less than an hour later, they visited her and told Hermione that they were moving out the next morning. To her later surprise, Hermione hadn’t questioned her parents’ sudden decision at the time and simply started packing her stuff.

The Grangers then spent the next day packing everything into boxes and loading them in two rented lorries. By the evening, they were driving toward Crawley.

The anger Hermione had felt toward the idea of having Harry live with her family had  disappeared the moment they had arrived at their new home in Crawley. Hermione had no idea what had happened. She didn’t know why she went from happily agreeing to the idea to being angry about it in less than a few seconds. She tried to look back to the previous day and saw that there weren’t any good explanations. One moment, she liked the idea and the other, she hated it.

Hermione hadn’t missed the looks of disappointment her parents kept discretely shooting her in the following days. She felt ashamed of her own reaction. She couldn’t help but feel like she had betrayed her first and best friend and she didn’t know why she had done so. Now, they weren’t even living in the same part of the country anymore so there would be no chances to apologise to Harry. Hermione had almost said to her parents that she wanted Harry with them but couldn’t bring herself to tell them. Not only would it be horribly humiliating, it would lead to questions she wouldn’t be able to answer.

Hermione went to her new school and met new kids. While those kids were a lot nicer than those at Privet Drive, they weren’t Harry. Because of that, she couldn’t help but push everyone back. She didn’t trust herself to be in a friendship again, not after what she had done to Harry. The next few years for Hermione were lonely and quiet. Her parents had finally gotten the practice they had dreamed about and began doing like many new business owners did: they worked constantly, almost never taking a break. It meant that, most times than not, Hermione would be alone when she came back from school.

Because of her loneliness, Hermione threw herself in books. Books could be trusted and she liked reading them. Hermione never forgot Harry and every time he would cross her  mind; her heart would be filled with guilt and sadness. In wasn’t rare in the first few months at Crawley that Hermione would cry herself to sleep.

Eventually, in September 1990, Professor McGonagall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came to the Grangers and explained everything they needed to know about magic and Hogwarts. Hermione dragged her parents toward Diagon Alley where Hermione bought as many books as she was allowed. A few of them were recent and talked about what had happened in the last few years. The moment she had come home, Hermione had started reading the various books she had bought.

The next summer, the one before Hermione was scheduled to go to Hogwarts, Hermione would read her wizarding books from the moment she woke up to the moment she fell asleep. One of those days, Emma Granger hadn’t gone to work. Emma had noticed her daughter reading one of those magical books, smiling. She was glad that books could help Hermione feel happy because she was under no illusions that Hermione didn’t feel lonely. It didn’t help that her parents had been extremely busy the first few years after their practice opened. To this day, she still didn’t know why Hermione had said no when she and her father had offered the idea. They didn’t understand either why they felt like they should leave the next day, removing any chances of seeing Harry again. Ever since then, Hermione had been lonely. While she was friendly with other kids of her age, none were her friends. Emma looked at her daughter again but, instead of seeing a smile on Hermione’s face, she saw that she was looking at her book, horrified.

“Hermione?” she asked, automatically concerned. Hermione didn’t answer. Emma saw that tears were slowly leaking out of her eyes. Emma quickly went toward her daughter and repeated “Hermione?”

“Mum... it’s horrible.” she said before she took her mother in her arms and started crying. Emma took the book in one arm while she put the other around her daughter’s waist. She took a look at the page Hermione was reading and understood.

** JAMES, LILY AND HARRY POTTER **

_ In 1981, after Sirius Black revealed the location where the Potters were hiding to the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who went to Godric’s Hollow and attacked the Potters. James Potter managed to duel against You-Know-Who, hoping to give his family time to escape but was eventually murdered. The Dark Lord then climbed upstairs and entered the nursery where Lily Potter had hidden with her son Harry. It is unknown what happened in this room but we know that Lily Potter was found dead by You-Know-Who's wand. Supposedly, You-Know-Who then turned his wand toward young Harry Potter and shot the Killing Curse. The Killing Curse is said to be impossible to survive but, somehow, the curse rebounded on one-year-old Harry Potter and struck the Dark Lord, killing him. All Harry was left with was a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. It is unknown what happened to Harry Potter, later known as ‘The-Boy-Who-Lived' but it is said that he was brought to his only living relatives. _

Emma gapped at the book. She almost wouldn’t have believed it had she not seen the picture of the Potter Family taken a few months before their deaths. One look at James and Lily confirmed that the Harry they knew was the same Harry Potter mentioned in the books. The Harry she remembered looked like a younger copy of James Potter, except that he had bright green eyes. Lily Potter’s eyes.

She better understood how Hermione felt now. This was her old friend they were talking about. Emma knew that Harry had once said that he didn’t know anything about his parents, just that they had died in a car crash when he was a year-old. She wasn’t surprised to hear that the Dursleys had lied to him but felt guilty that the Grangers hadn’t brought him with them when they moved. She guessed that Hermione felt a lot worse than she did. Her predictions proved true as Hermione barely left her room in the following days. Hermione having puffy red eyes wasn’t a rare sight.

Hermione realised quickly on that Harry would attend Hogwarts as well. She knew she would see him again but didn’t know how he would react. Would he be happy to see her or would he be angry? The wait until September 1 st made Hermione a nervous wreck.

When the day finally arrived, Hermione arrived to the Platform early. She found a compartment all for herself and read books until a boy named Neville Longbottom came and asked if she had seen his toad. Hermione, realising that her school years would be lonely if she didn’t make a single friend while at Hogwarts, decided to help the boy, hoping that they could be friends. Hermione visited many compartments and eventually arrived to one occupied by a red-haired boy and another one with black hair.

“Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost...” she started before she saw looked at the black-haired boy again. A boy with bright green eyes and round wired glasses. Harry Potter, her first and only friend. “H-Harry?” she asked in shock. She knew that she would see him again today, but it didn’t reduce the shock.

Hermione’s heart broke when Harry scowled at her. He looked like he was trying to hide it but she could see the anger and betrayal in his eyes. Harry looked away without answering her.

“Harry?” she repeated, this time quietly. Harry didn’t react, he was pretending she wasn’t there.

The red-haired boy then said “I don’t think he want to speak to you.” while looking at her with narrowed eyes.

“H-Harry...” she said, weakly.

“Leave!” and angry shout came from Harry. “Please.” he whispered. Hermione couldn’t help it anymore and ran away. She locked herself inside her compartment and broke down. Her first friendship was gone, her first friend hated her and she knew that it was all her own fault. She didn’t leave the compartment until the train arrived at Hogsmeade.

* * *

“...and that was our reunion.” said Hermione, her eyes still wet. Harry couldn’t help but feel guilty at seeing his wife crying. Hermione had believed that Harry hated her. It had never been true. Sure, Harry had once disliked Hermione but that was it. The only reason he disliked her was because he was still angry about the whole situation. Had he not been, like a few months later, then he would have been indifferent toward her.

“I’m sorry you believed that I hated you.” muttered Harry to his wife.

“You didn’t?” asked Rose.

“I never did.” said Harry. “I reacted badly that day because I was surprised to see Hermione and all the  emotions I had kept at bay started coming out again. At best, I was indifferent to her. At worse, I disliked her but I never, never hated your mother.” he answered before kissing the top of Hermione’s head.

Hermione smiled weakly at her husband before she continued. “We didn’t become friends again until Halloween of that year but that was two months after our reunion. Halloween wasn’t the first time we spoke to each other again; it was the evening of September 2 nd ...”

* * *

“Harry? Can I talk to you? Please...?” asked Hermione timidly at the end of their first ever Charms class when she, Ron and Harry were exiting the class. Harry had been ignoring Hermione pointily ever since the Hogwarts Express. He had been disappointed when Hermione had been sorted into Gryffindor and had almost agreed to go to Slytherin instead. The Sorting Hat however told him that it would be for the best for both he and Hermione if they were in the same House and sorted him into Gryffindor!

Hermione had tried to talk to him a few times during the day but, every time, Harry had just ignored her and acted as she wasn’t there. He hadn’t missed the hurt looks visible on Hermione’s face and, while he didn’t like doing that to her, he thought it was for the best.

Her repeated attempts however were becoming more and more annoying. Harry wondered why Hermione hadn’t caught on the fact that he didn’t want to talk to her. Ron had tried a few times to tell her subtilty that Harry didn’t want to talk to her but she had never stopped.

“Fine!” he finally snapped. A look of relief crossed Hermione’s face while Ron looked surprised. “I’ll see you back in the common room, Ron.” he said to his new best-friend.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes.” answered Harry. Turning toward Hermione, he said “Follow me.” and walked away. Hermione followed him quietly to an empty classroom nearby.

“What do you want?” said Harry abruptly the moment she had closed the door.

Hermione realised that while she had wanted to talk to Harry all day, she didn’t know exactly where to start from. “I missed you.” she said after a few seconds.

“Right.” snorted Harry, not believing it one second. A pained look temporarily showed on both of their faces. “You really think that I would believe that?”

“Harry...”

“No, Hermione!” he snapped. “I don’t believe you missed me! You and your family disappeared one day without warning. You didn’t even say goodbye nor ever contacted me again. Not even once!” he nearly shouted. He felt his anger starting to build up. He knew he should shut up now but he wasn’t able to stop. He had spent too many years wondering why Hermione had said ‘No’. All of his hurt and later anger were finally getting out in front of his former best-friend. Hermione looked down in shame. A few tears had started leaking out. “Did you even consider me a friend?”

“ Of course, I did!” answered Hermione, shocked that he hadn’t believed in their friendship.

“Really?” continued Harry in disbelief. “Is that how you treat your friends then? Do you gain their trust and confidence and then spit on it when they need your help, like, for instance, when one come from an abusive family and need to be removed?”

“What?” said Hermione, open-mouthed.

“You heard me right. Abused!” shouted Harry. He knew he would regret it later but Harry removed his school robes before lifting his shirts and showed Hermione his back. Hermione burst out crying. There were scars everywhere and even the presences of a few old bruises. Putting back his robes, he said “And your parents offered me a way out of this living hell, except that they wanted your approval first...”

“Y-You K-know..?”

“That your parents wanted to adopt me? Of course, I do, I was there when they told the Dursleys about it! I was happy, probably the happiest I had ever been in my life! Someone finally wanted me! I finally believed that I wasn’t a waste of space, that I was worthy of love!” he said sarcastically. Hermione flinched. “I felt like on a cloud for the next few days until, one day, I arrived at school and you weren’t there. After the day ended, I walked toward your home, hoping to see you. Did you know what I found?” he asked.

“N-no.” stuttered Hermione.

“Nothing.” said Harry. “The house was empty. You had moved out and left me behind. Worse, you didn’t even tell me goodbye. You just disappeared...” he said. His voice had lowered and he was now almost whispering. “When I came home, my Uncle was waiting for me. With his horrible grin, he told me that the Grangers had decided to leave and had abandoned the idea of taking me with them because their daughter, my first and best friend had refused the idea. Do you deny it?” he asked. He didn’t tell her that he already knew the answer, that he had witnessed the conversation as he wanted to see if she would say the truth or not.

Hermione shook her head. “I-I’m s-sorry.” she sobbed in her hands.

Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he asked “Why?”. There wasn’t a once of anger in his voice anymore. It was almost soft. The hurt and betrayal present in his voice however was overwhelming and broke Hermione’s heart. Hearing an angry Harry had been very hard and painful, but it wasn’t close to how much it ached to hear the hurt and betrayal in his one-word question.

“I-I don’t k-know.” cried Hermione. “I-I wanted to s-say yes b-but before I d-did so, I s-suddenly felt angry at my p-parents' idea and I s-said no. I-I asked m-myself why c-constantly ever since w-we moved to C-Crawley...”

Harry sighed and removed his glasses before pinching the bridge of his nose. To his own surprise, he did believed her. He still didn’t know why she had said no but now knew that Hermione didn’t either. He let her calm down for a few minutes before he asked “Why did your family left so soon? I know they had planned on moving to Crawley in the following weeks but why that soon?”

Hermione shrugged, still looking down. “I don’t know.” she answered quietly. “I never  questioned it.”

Harry slowly approached Hermione and put two fingers on her chin. He slowly and gently lifted her head so that she would look at him in the eyes. He had forgotten how beautiful Hermione’s chocolate brown eyes were. “Why did you want to talk to me?” he asked softly. “There must have been another reason than just saying you missed me...”

“I just wanted to talk to you again, I wanted to apologise and because I missed you.”

Harry sighed again. “I’m going to be honest. I missed you too...” started Harry. He saw a bit of hope cross Hermione’s eyes. “But I don’t know if we can be friends anymore.” he said. Hermione looked back down. “I am not saying that it will never happen but I just don’t trust you anymore.”

"I’m sorry.” she whispered before she looked back at his bright green eyes. “I will do everything I need to get your trust back.” said Hermione solemnly.

“We’ll see.” said Harry before he exited the classroom and left a tearing Hermione behind.

* * *

“I still feel bad about how I reacted.” said Harry. “I mean sure, it could have been a lot worse but I shouldn’t have shouted at you.”

“You had every right to do so.” said Hermione.

“It doesn’t mean I should have done that.” said Harry before he turned toward their daughter. “Life lesson for you Rose. If you are ever angry at one of your friends, you should keep your calm and think reasonably instead of shouting at them.”

“Okay.” said Rose.

“Do you want to know what happened on Halloween then?” asked Hermione. Both she and Harry smiled when they saw Rose’s eyes light up in excitement...


	5. Troll in the Bathroom

Even after their talk on their first day at Hogwarts, Harry still wouldn’t talk to Hermione. He wasn’t ignoring her anymore and would answer if she asked a question but that was the most that the formers friend would interact. Hermione was sad that she and Harry were still not on good terms but understood why it was the case.

Hermione often tried to help Harry whenever she believed he needed it which unknowingly aggravated the situation with Harry. The only reason he had never once protested or snapped outside of the inside of his mind was because he knew that Hermione was trying her best to prove that she was trustworthy and Harry couldn’t exactly tell her off when she had good intentions.

A few Professors had seen soon enough the weird dynamic between Harry and Hermione and it even reminded a few about how Harry's parents would interact in their sixth year, after James had grown up but before Lily had realised so. In Harry and Hermione’s case however, the roles were reversed as Harry was the one who wasn’t interested in speaking to Hermione.

As things progressed, so did things happen inside Hogwarts. In their first flying lesson, Harry saved Neville Longbottom’s Remembrall and somehow ended up on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Hermione couldn’t help but call Harry selfish when she had overheard that he and Ron were planning on duelling Draco Malfoy in the middle of the night and realised that they could lose a lot of points for Gryffindor if they were caught. She had regretted it the moment it came out of her mouth. It didn’t help that Harry had scowled at her the same way he had done on the Express and Hermione wondered if she had accidently reverted all of her progress with that one simple statement.

Harry continued to ignore Hermione for up until Halloween. Hermione had kept trying to prove herself to Harry but she couldn’t help but wonder if it was useless or not as Harry didn’t once change her attitude toward her.

What Hermione didn’t know was that Harry had realised what she was doing and was slowly warming up to her. However, Harry kept fearing that becoming friends with Hermione again would just come back to kick him in the butt later on. Nightmares weren’t rare for Harry, who was seeing a lot what he assumed was the death of his mother, but ever since arriving at Hogwarts, a new nightmare had showed up. Harry’s nightmares would usually start with him and Hermione being best friends again until something grave would happen to him like, for instance, Voldemort trying to kill him and Hermione suddenly deciding that he wasn’t worth it anymore. Those nightmares would usually wake him up in the middle of the night.

Halloween day started as any other day. It was a sour day for Harry as it was both the ten year “anniversary” of his parents’ death but also six years since the Grangers had abandoned him in Privet Drive. In Charms class, Hermione tried to help Harry but when he quickly mastered the Levitation Charm, she moved on helping Ron. Ron obviously didn’t like her helping him and after the end of the class, he said to Harry “It’s a wonder how you were ever friends with her! She’s a nightmare, honestly.”

Harry hadn’t like how Ron had casually insulted Hermione and was about to defend her when someone knocked into him while running away. Harry barely had time to see tears leaking out of Hermione’s eyes before she turned around a corner. Suddenly, Harry felt horrible.

“Why did you say that?” he asked to Ron with an ounce of anger.

“Well, she is!” he said. “She’s always trying to help us even when we don’t need her help. She’s annoying.”

“That doesn’t mean that you can just casually insult her!” he nearly shouted. Harry didn’t know why he suddenly felt protective of Hermione... until it clicked. It was true that Harry was angry at Hermione, but he also realised that for the last two months, he had been putting Hermione in the exact same situation as he had been in the months following the Grangers’ departure from Privet Drive, even after it had been made obvious to him that she had no idea why she had reacted that way six years ago and that she was clearly feeling bad for it.

“Relax mate... if it makes you feel better, I will apologise to her next class.” said Ron. Harry sighed and he and Ron went to their next class.

* * *

“I didn’t know you had started to change your mind before the troll.” said Hermione.

“I did. I felt horrible and was stuck in a position where I wanted to apologise but also didn’t know how or when would be a good opportunity to do it. Sadly, the troll gave me one...”

* * *

Harry was now concerned. Ron was as well but nowhere near how Harry felt. Hermione hadn’t shown up in the next class and hadn’t been seen since. The Halloween feast had just begun and Hermione wasn’t in the Great Hall.

“Do you know where Hermione is?” asked Harry to Lavender Brown, one of Hermione’s dorm-mates. Lavender raised an eyebrow. While Harry had always been polite with Hermione, he had also been cold toward her ever since school had started, something that was obvious even to herself. She had remembered on their second night at Hogwarts when Hermione had cried herself to sleep after she and Harry had talked privately. However, she saw the guilt in Harry’s face and decided to tell him the truth.

“The last time I saw her, she was crying in the  First-Floor girls’ bathroom and telling us that she wanted to be left alone.”

Harry sighed before he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He needed to talk to Hermione again, to at least apologise for how he had been treating her. Harry wiped his mouth with a napkin before  throwing it on his plate and he raised up.

“Harry?” asked Ron, confused.

“I don’t feel like eating at a feast on the day my parents died.” lied Harry convincingly. While he truly felt that way, it wasn’t the reason why he was leaving. He was going to find Hermione and apologise to her. Maybe they could start from the beginning and see if they became friends again or not. What he knew however was that he didn’t want to stay in conflict with his first ever friend.

Harry left the Great Hall early to the surprise of some. Only the oldest ones and the Professors knew what Halloween meant for Harry and let him be, even if attendance at the Feast was technically mandatory.

Harry walked toward the girl's bathroom, hoping to find Hermione there. He barely noticed Professor Quirrell run toward the Great Hall and arrived at his destination. He hesitated before entering the girl’s bathroom. It was a girl’s bathroom, but Harry knew that everyone else was at the Feast. Harry entered and found Hermione standing in front of a sink, her eyes red and puffy.

“Hermione?” said Harry, softly. Hermione  shrieked in surprise.

“Harry!? What are you doing here?” she started before she looked sad again. “Are you here to make fun of me?” she asked. Harry flinched, remembering how kids had treated her at school when both were still living at Privet Drive.

“I’m sorry.” he suddenly said, looking down.

“S-Sorry?” repeated Hermione in confusion.

“Yes...” he said before sighing for a third time that evening. “I’m sorry about how I treated you since the beginning.”

“It’s understandable why you...” she started but was  interrupted by Harry.

“It doesn’t make it right! Even if I didn’t want to be your friend, I should still have been cordial toward you, not give you the cold shoulder every day. It’s just not right!” said Harry.

Hermione looked at Harry for a few seconds before she finally gave a week smile and said “Thanks. Why aren’t you at the feast?”

Harry shrugged. “My parents died ten years ago... I didn’t feel like attending a feast.”

Hermione was about to say something when they suddenly felt a vibration on the ground. Then another... and another.

“What’s going on?” said Harry, looking at the vibrating floor curiously.

“Do you smell this?” asked Hermione. Harry took a few sniffs before he recoiled in disgust. The air smelled like a mixture of old socks and a badly unclean public toilet.

“What could possibly smell like that?” he asked. Hermione shrugged her head before her eyes suddenly fixed on a point behind him. Her face changed from confusion to horror and she screamed in terror. Harry quickly turned around and met the eyes of a twelve feet tall mountain troll.

“Run!” shouted Harry. “I’ll distract it!” he said but he didn’t hear Hermione. Once glance behind and he saw that she was petrified in terror, barely standing on her feet. Seeing that the troll was about to swing its club toward them, Harry jumped on the terrified Hermione to bring her down. They barely avoided the club and it crashed into the wall. That had been enough to snap Hermione out of her trance.

“W-What are we going to do!?” she asked.

“Run and I’ll distract it!” he repeated, avoiding another swing of the club. The club crashed in a few sinks, breaking a few pipes which started spraying water everywhere.

“Are you crazy? I’m not letting you face this thing alone!” shrieked Hermione.

“Think of something then!” shouted Harry.

“I don’t know!” she shouted  back; terror still evident in her voice.

Then, a third voice spoke. “Harry? Hermione?” came back from the other side of the bathroom. Ron Weasley had come to help them.

Harry suddenly got an idea. “Ron! Distract it!”

“Oy, pea-brain!” shouted Ron in an attempt to grab its attention. As it didn’t work, he took a few debris on the ground and threw them at the troll’s head. It was enough to make it turn around and Harry used the opportunity to jump on its back and fastened his arms around its neck. Hermione had followed Ron’s example and started distracting the troll as well so that it wouldn’t concentrate on Ron too much. After steadying himself, Harry took his wand and stabbed the troll in the nostril. In retaliation, the troll grabbed Harry off his back and threw him at the wall. Harry heard bones crack when he hit the wall and couldn’t help the shout of pain that escaped. His entire body felt like it was on fire.

“HARRY!” shouted both Hermione and Ron in distressed voices. Harry opened his eyes and saw that the troll’s cub was over its head and it was slowly bringing it back so that he could take a good swing toward him. What struck to Harry however was the sight of Hermione. She wasn’t looking afraid anymore but that was simply because she looked way too horrified to really show any other emotions. Her eyes however conveyed them better. Harry saw the guilt and the feeling of despair in her eyes. He decided to give her a reassuring smile before he closed his eyes. Harry had accepted his situation and that he was about to die. It was weird, in a way. That morning, Harry was still giving Hermione the cold shoulder but now he was alright with the idea of dying to help save her life. Harry heard Hermione shout his name again but he didn’t answer as he patiently waited for the troll to hit him...

“ Wingardium Leviosa !”

…and the hit of the club never came. Harry opened his eyes again, a process more difficult that he had imagined, and saw that the troll’s club was floating over the its head. Ron was standing proudly with his wand pointed at the club. The troll looked up in surprise and Ron released the spell. The club hit the troll’s head first with a sickening crack, not unsimilar to what Harry heard when he hit the wall. The troll fell on the floor, face first. Since Harry’s wand was still in its nostril, it shot further into his head, entering the brain and killing it on the spot.

Hermione and Ron looked at the now-dead troll with wide eyes until a moan of pain from Harry’s snaped them back into reality.

“HARRY!” they both shouted, running toward him. Both fell on their knees right in front of Harry. Harry was breathing heavily and it sounded shaky. Ron was looking at him horrified while Hermione was crying.

“Harry! Are you alright?” asked Ron quickly. 

“What do you think!?” shrieked Hermione. “Where does it hurt?” she asked.

The pain was becoming more and more unbearable. “Everywhere.” he simply said.

“Go get some help! Please!” she shouted to Ron. Ron nodded and ran outside of the bathroom. Hermione could hear his distant shouts.

“I-I’m so s-sorry!” she cried. “I-I failed y-you again!”

“You didn’t.” said Harry, grimacing at the pain. “You... you didn’t fail me. I failed myself... for not dropping back down after... putting my wand in its nose.”

“I-It’s r-ridiculous. It doesn’t m-make s-sense!”

“Neither... does blaming... yourself...” he said with a weak laugh. Harry felt his head starting to spin and added “ Hermione, ... I don’t feel... so good.” faintly.

“DON’T YOU DIE ON ME, HARRY JAMES POTTER!” shouted Hermione, putting his head on her lap and holding the now shaking bow in her arms.

Harry’s bright green eyes looked straight into Hermione’s beautiful chocolate brown ones and said “It... is... worth it... to save... a... friend.”. Harry looked straight into her eyes for a few moments before they closed. Harry went limp in her arms.

“HARRY...! NO...!” she shouted before she started sobbing in his chest.

* * *

Harry was smiling at the sight of his two favourite females in the world both holding him as to make sure he was alright and alive. Rose had long left her bed. She had done so when Harry had told her that the troll had entered the bathroom and neither he nor Hermione had told her to go back. Rose wanted to sit on her father’s lap and hold him and Harry happily granted her wish. His daughter was emulating her mother and was slowly and quietly crying in his chest. 

Harry was surprised that Rose had an unusual understanding of the story, not that he should be with Hermione as her mother. He would almost have expected her to think that their story was like all other fairy tales her parents were telling her but Harry had seen early on that Rose actually understood that it was real.

Hermione had also started holding him strongly when he talked about how he was thrown on the wall by the troll. Both of ‘his girls’, as he liked to think of them, had their faces  buried in his chest.

“It’s alright.” he muttered, rubbing both of their backs. “I’m here and safe.” he said.

“I still have nightmares from that day.” whispered Hermione. “When you blacked out in my arms, for a moment, I believed that you had died. You had just called me a friend again and going limp in my arms made me feel like I had gotten you back just to  lose it again a few seconds later.”

“I’m sorry.” said Harry. Hermione chuckled because Harry  legitimately sounded guilty.

“It wasn’t your fault, you prat.” she said, lifting her head and looking at him straight in the eyes. Hermione was smirking but he could see that her cheeks were wet.” 

“I’m sor...” he started before he snorted. Instead, Harry kissed her straight on the lips. “I love you.” he told her.

Hermione kissed him back before saying “I love you too as well, you big goofball.”

“Me? A goofball?” said Harry, pretending to be offended. Rose giggled in his chest. Harry drew both of them closer to him and the small family stayed together in silence for the next few minutes.

Eventually, Rose asked to her father. “You won’t get injured again, won’t you?”

“Not my plan.” said Harry. “Speaking of which, I’m planning on quitting the Auror Department.”

“Really?” said Hermione, eyes lit in happiness and relief.

“Yes. I believe the current Defence Professor at Hogwarts is planning on retiring so next year I could...” he started but was interrupted when Hermione grabbed his head and kissed him senseless. Harry closed his eyes and gave a small moan of pleasure.

“Good.” said Hermione after she ended the kiss. “I hated worrying about whether or not you would come back home in one piece or if I would be called because you were at St-Mungo's.”

“Speaking of being in the Hospital, we should continue the story...”


	6. Hospital Wing

Pain was the first thing Harry felt when he woke up. The last thing Harry remembered was saying to Hermione that dying to save her was worth it. 

Harry slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a room he had never seen before. Tilting his head slightly allowed him to see further in the room and he realised that he was in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. The room was dark but Harry could see through the windows that the sky had a small hint of pink. He guessed that it was currently very early in the morning. 

The next thing he became aware of was that there was something warm in his right hand. Looking down, he saw that it was a hand, Hermione hand. While he couldn’t see very well because he wasn’t wearing his glasses, Harry could recognise Hermione’s brown bushy hair. She was sitting on a chair but her head was lying on the bed near his hand. He guessed that she had fallen asleep during the night, though he wondered what she was doing here in the middle of the night. 

Smiling to himself, Harry squeezed Hermione’s hand. He was slightly surprised when his squeeze woke her up. Hermione slowly lifted her head and looked around in confusion, wondering why she had suddenly woken up. Harry squeezed her hand again. Hermione looked at their joined hands in shock before her eyes travelled toward Harry and found a pair of bright green ones looking back at her. 

“Harry?” she whispered. 

“Hi you!” he said. 

“Harry!” she said suddenly and semi-quietly. Hermione grabbed Harry in a bone-crushing hug which made Harry gasp in pain. 

“Sorry!” she quickly said, releasing her hold. 

“Don’t worry.” said Harry with a small smirk. “Just be a bit more careful next time.” 

“I’m so happy you are finally awake!” 

“Finally?” he asked, confused. “How long was I out?” Hermione refused to look at his eyes. “Hermione, please...” 

“You were out for twenty-four days...” 

“Three weeks!?” he repeated in shock. 

“And three days... yes...” said Hermione weakly before she burst into tears. Harry slowly drew her toward him in a comforting hug, or as much of a hug an injured person lying on a bed could give. 

“Shhhhh...” he whispered in her ear. 

“It’s my fault!” she said. 

Harry laughed quietly. “Hey! Didn’t we already agree that it wasn’t?” 

Hermione giggled. “Fine... I’m so happy that you are awake!” 

“Me too...” said Harry. “What happened since Halloween then?” 

“Nothing much.” she said, wiping with her thumb the few tears that had leaked out. “The school learned what happened to you on Halloween and nearly every student in school visited you once they were able but... it was touch and go for a few days. You were an inch of being transferred to St-Mungo's, the wizarding hospital.” 

“What about Quidditch? There was a match scheduled a week into November.” 

Hermione snickered. Boys be boys. “The team wanted to postpone the match but neither Slytherin nor Professor Snape wanted to. Professor McGonagall also said that they weren’t sure if you would be able to play again because you broke your spine when you hit the wall. We lost the game since the replacement Seeker was horrible, apparently.” 

Harry palled. “My spine broke?” he asked before he tried to move all of his limbs. He relaxed when he was able to move his arms, legs, fingers and toes. 

“Yeah.” confirmed Hermione. “That’s the reason why you were in the Hospital Wing for so long.” 

“Damn.” said Harry. 

“Ron and I also discovered that Professor Snape tried to go on the Third-Floor corridor that night and got injured to the leg. We think that he is trying to steal whatever is hidden there.” 

“Ron and you?” said Harry, surprised. 

“Yes.” said Hermione. “After the professors brought you here, we got kicked out of the Hospital Wing and told to go back to the tower. Ron apologised for insulting me and we became friends.” 

Harry smiled. “Brilliant.” he said. 

“Harry...” started Hermione, hesitating. Harry was looking at her curiously. “Did you mean what you said, when you called me a friend?” 

Harry squeezed her hand again. “Yes, I did.” he said with a smile. Hermione wanted to grab him into a hug but couldn’t so instead, she put her arms around him and put her head on his chest. Without realising what he was doing, Harry put his left hand on her head and started passing it through her hair. “When I came to the bathroom to find you, I wanted to apologise, which I did, but I also wanted to start afresh with you. I wanted to... not forget our original friendship but ignore how it ended and start anew. I didn’t know if we would be friends again but I wanted to at least have a friendly relationship with you. And then the troll happened. As I laid there on the ground and thinking I was dying, I might have skipped a step and started considering you as a friend right away.” he said chuckling. “I’m guessing that there are things you just can’t share without ending up being friends, and knocking out a twelve-foot-tall mountain troll must be one of them.” 

“Thank you.” said Hermione, sniffing. 

“Now, can you tell me what you are doing here in the middle of the night? Not that I don’t appreciate it but I don’t feel like the school nurse would like it.” 

Hermione giggled. “I visited you every day.” she said, making Harry’s heart feel warm. “The only other time I was there during the night was on Halloween and that was because I had to be given a Dreamless Sleep Potion. Today I felt like I just had to come. Madam Pomfrey doesn’t know I’m here. I came after curfew.” 

Harry gasped. “Hermione Granger breaking rules?” 

“Shut-up.” she said, blushing slightly. 

Harry yawned, followed quickly by Hermione. “I slept for three weeks and I am still tired.” he said, chuckling. 

“Go back to sleep, Harry.” she whispered in his ear before she raised up. “I think it's time I should go back to my dormitory...” started Hermione but she was interrupted by Harry. 

“Don’t, please.” he pleaded. Harry then got a brilliant idea and moved to the left side of his bed, leaving just enough place for someone else. “Come on the bed, it will be more comfortable than a wooden chair.” 

Hermione blushed. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes.” said Harry. Hermione nodded and slowly slipped in bed. Harry threw the covers on top of her and Hermione put her head back on Harry’s chest. 

“You know that Madam Pomfrey will kill us, right?” she asked. 

“Don’t care...” muttered Harry, already half-asleep. 

Hermione sighed in contentment before she fell back asleep. Harry was right, it was a lot more comfortable than sleeping on a chair. It even was more comfortable than her bed at home, for some reason... 

* * *

“Did Madam Pomfrey kill you then?” asked Rose, giggling. 

“Well, she did start to rant about how she had never seen someone sleeping with one of her patients in the Hospital Wing.” blushed Hermione. “Not that we ever believed it.” 

“Except that she totally forgot about it the moment she realised that I was awake and conscious.” grinned Harry. “Hermione was never punished.” 

“And that’s how you became friends again?” said Rose. 

Hermione smiled. “That’s how we became friends again. It’s also when I started falling in love with your father.” she said. 

“Personally, it was at the end of the year. My feelings toward Hermione started to change when I was about to confront the professor that wanted to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, who we believed to be Severus Snape at the time...” 

* * *

Hermione was looking at the last obstacle in awe. “Brilliant!” she said. “This isn’t magic, it’s logic! A puzzle! A lot of the greatest wizards haven’t got an ounce of logic, they’d be stuck in here forever!” 

Harry smiled. He was a nervous wreck right now but it warmed his heart to see Hermione amazed at the puzzle. She looked happy that she could be mentally challenged, unlike the other obstacles. Befriending Hermione again had quickly proved to be one of the best decisions he ever took in his life. He really had missed being her friend and with Ron, the new trio worked wonders together. 

“It’s a good thing you are good at puzzles then, I’m piss poor at them.” said Harry. 

“Language Harry. And I didn’t need the reminder, I remember how you always had problems with those back in muggle school.” she said with a smirk. “Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple.” 

Harry knew better than to interrupt her thinking. He patiently waited as she read the paper several times while talking a look at the seven bottles. Harry would sometimes hear her mutter her thoughts to herself. 

“Got it!” she said after a few minutes. “The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire, toward the Stone.” 

Harry grabbed the bottle. It barely fitted in his palm. He knew that it meant. “There’s only enough for one of us.” Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Neither wanted to leave the other behind, nor do they wanted to leave the other alone to face Professor Snape. “Which one will get us back through the purple flames?” he asked. Hermione pointed toward the round bottle at the right end of the table. 

“What do we do?” asked Hermione. 

Harry looked back at Hermione painfully. He knew it was time to make a difficult decision. “If it’s Snape on the other side and if he is trying to get the Stone for Voldemort... I think I should go face him.” 

“What!?” shrieked Hermione. “Are you crazy? I’m not letting you face Professor Snape alone!” 

“Hermione...” he said. “Only one of us can go, and I would prefer if it was me. Because of what happened when Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby, I’m already on his and his supporters’ radar. I don’t want you to be as well.” 

Hermione’s lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him. Harry relaxed in her embrace. “Harry, you’re a great wizard, you know.” 

“I’m not as good as you.” said Harry, embarrassed as she let go of him. 

“Me! Books! And cleverness! There are more important things like friendship and bravery and...” she said, suddenly hesitating. Harry looked straight into her eyes and Hermione saw the understanding in his own. She didn’t need to continue, he understood. “Oh Harry, be careful! I don’t want to lose you again!” 

“You won’t.” promised Harry. “Now drink your potion and get back to Ron. Grab some brooms from the third obstacle and go straight to the owlery. Send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. Hopefully, I will be able to hold Snape off.” 

Hermione took her first ever friend in a bone-crushing hug before she drank the potion. Hermione started walking toward the door but stopped and turned around. It was obvious that she didn’t want to leave. Harry didn’t want her to leave either but it wasn’t their decision, and they were running out of time. 

“Quick, go, before it wears off.” 

“Good luck Harry, take care...” 

“GO!” he shouted. Hermione took a deep breath and walked straight through the purple fire before leaving the room. Harry stayed there for a few moments, looking painfully at where Hermione had left. He had liked the first hug she had given him. He didn’t know why but it made his heart beat faster. Letting her go back was probably one of the most difficult decisions he ever took. 

Harry had felt bad lying to her. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t know if he would come back alive. He wanted to but he held no illusions that he was a match to Snape. He had given his word that she wouldn’t lose him again and so decided to do his best. Anyway, he wanted to live. Life was a lot better now that he had befriended Ron and gotten his friendship back with Hermione. 

Taking a deep breath, Harry swallowed the vile tasting potion and crossed the black flames. 

* * *

Hermione was walking back toward the Chess Room. She hated herself for leaving Harry alone to face whoever was trying to steal the Stone. Hermione had wanted to come with him but it was impossible. She concentrated on accomplishing the task Harry had given her. 

Once she entered the room, she went straight to Ron. 

“Ron!” she said, shaking him. Ron moaned in pain. 

“H-Hermione?” said Ron. 

“Ron, quick! We have to get out of there and send a message to Professor Dumbledore.” she said, helping him rise on his feet. Hermione slipped an arm under his arms to help him walk. 

“Wait... where... Harry?” said Ron weakly. 

Hermione bit her lips. “He went to Snape.” she said. 

“What? Alone?” 

“Yes.” said Hermione painfully. “We were in a potion room and we had to find the answer to a puzzle which would give us the potion needed to cross a specific type of flames so that we could move forward. There was just enough for one...” 

“Let me... guess... he told you... to go back while... he moved... forward?” Hermione nodded. “Noble git.” said Ron. 

Hermione led Ron toward the Chess Room and then the one with the Flying Keys. Taking a broom, she helped Ron climb on it. “I’m not a good flyer but I will get us out of there.” 

“I thrust... you, and... Harry thrust... you.” said Ron. Hermione smiled weakly before she climbed in front of Ron and took off. Hermione slowly flew toward the first room where the Devil Snare was located and then slowly flew up toward the trap door. Hermione felt that Ron was barely holding on to her and feared that he would pass out at any moment. She wasn’t Harry, she didn’t think she would be able to catch him if he did. 

Hermione flew out of the trapdoor and then out of the room with Fluffy. She landed and helped Ron climb the broom down. Hermione let out a breath of relief when she saw Professor Dumbledore run toward them. 

Professor Dumbledore barely took a look at them before realising what was happening. “Is he still down here?” he asked right away. 

“Yes... you got to help him!” said Hermione. 

“I will. Bring Mr. Weasley to the Hospital Wing and wait for Mr. Potter and I.” he said before he passed them and entered the room they had just left. 

Hermione helped Ron walk toward the Hospital Wing. She could see that Ron was barely conscious and so tried to walk as quickly as possible, helping her friend whenever she could. 

“Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey!” shouted Hermione, barging in the Hospital Wing. Hermione saw lights suddenly turn on in her office before the school Healer got out of it. 

“What is it Miss Granger?” she asked before she noticed Ron. “Help me put him on a bed.” she immediately ordered. Madam Pomfrey started casting diagnostic spells the moment Ron had been put on the bed. “Concussion.” she simply said before walking toward her Potions store. “With the right potions and a lot of rest, he should be able to leave tomorrow afternoon. 

Hermione would have relaxed had she not been stressing about Harry. Unable to contain herself, she started pacing around the Wing while Madam Pomfrey worked on Ron. 

Ten minutes after they arrived, the doors opened again and Dumbledore let a levitated and unconscious Harry in. 

“HARRY!” she shouted. For a moment, she felt like she was back in the bathroom, looking at the limp form of her best friend. For a moment, she felt like he had just died. Hermione fell on her knees and burst out crying. She barely noticed Madam Pomfrey walk toward Dumbledore who had put Harry on a bed. She didn’t hear her talk to the Headmaster nor did she notice her walking toward her and leading her toward a bed. 

“Miss Granger?” she said. When Hermione didn’t give any sign of recognition, her eyes still fixed on her best friend, she repeated her question. “Miss Granger?” Hermione’s eyes snapped back toward the Healer. Madam Pomfrey tended her a small vial of a dark purple potion. “Dreamless Sleep potion. You need to sleep, Miss Granger.” 

“Is Harry...” she sobbed, unable to finish. 

“Mr. Potter is fine, Miss Granger. He is just magically exhausted. It might take a few days to recuperate but he will be alright.” 

Hermione nodded, leaving out another breath of relief. She quickly drank the potion and fell asleep on the bed. 

* * *

“Harry didn’t wake up until three days later.” said Hermione. 

“And I missed another Quidditch match. Let’s just say that Oliver wasn’t exactly happy with me.” grinned Harry. “And that’s was the day where my feelings toward Hermione started becoming more than friendship.” said Harry. “Actually, I think I have proof that Hermione and I already felt something more than friendship by that point. Wait here.” said Harry before he left the room. 

“Where did Daddy go?” asked Rose. 

“No idea sweetie.” said Hermione, shaking her head. 

“When did you fall in love with Daddy?” 

Hermione smiled. “While I didn’t realise that I had fallen in love until the end of our third year at Hogwarts, I think that by the first half of our second year, I was already in love with Harry. I remember feeling a lot protective toward your father back when everyone believed him to be the Heir of Slytherin.” 

“Found it!” mother and daughter heard from another room. Harry quickly arrived back holding what looked like two books. 

“Our photo albums?” asked Hermione, an eyebrow raised. 

“Yep! Our Hogwarts one and the one Hagrid gave me at the end of that year.” grinned Harry, sitting back on their bench. Turning to Rose, he said “At the end of our first year, Ron and us decided to take multiple photos together. One of them is particularly interesting although I didn’t realise it until a few years later.” 

“Which one?” asked Hermione. Harry opened the book and showed a picture that Ron had taken of Harry and Hermione. On the magical photo, eleven-years-old Harry and twelve-years-old Hermione were slowly dancing together outside of the castle. Harry was grinning while Hermione was smiling and blushing at Harry. He remembered when that photo had been taken. Harry and Hermione had shuffled through a few poses while Ron had taken multiple photos and Harry had just gotten the idea of taking a photo while dancing with Hermione. Hermione had been pleasantly surprised. 

“So cute!” said Rose. Harry grinned. 

“We did look cute and it is a good picture but I don’t get it.” said Hermione. 

“Well, first, if you see our eyes, we can see the affection we have toward each other. It isn’t love yet, well not romantic love at least, but it’s getting there.” 

Hermione took a closer look. “Oh, I can see it now. We really looked happy.” 

“Which brings me to my second evidence.” he said. Harry opened the album Hagrid had given him and shuffled to one of the last pages. There, he showed a certain picture to his family. James and Lily Potter dancing outside of the castle and beaming at each other.” 

“Oh my!” said Hermione, realising Harry’s point. James and Lily were dancing in their photo just has Harry and Hermione did in theirs. They were nearly at the same location as well. The main differences were that James and Lily were dancing on a late afternoon in autumn while Harry and Hermione were dancing in the late morning in early summer. James and Lily also obviously had more dancing experience than Harry and Hermione. 

“That’s Grandmum and Granddad?” asked Rose in awe. 

“Grandmum Lily and Granddad James, yes.” smiled Harry. Turning back to his wife, he said “Unknowingly, we emulated one of my parents’ moments.” 

“That’s amazing.” she said, looking at both photographs side by side. James and Lily’s photograph also strengthen Harry’s first point. James and Lily looked utterly in love with each other and the start of something similar could be seen on Harry and Hermione. Hermione wouldn’t be surprised if James had surprised Lily by suddenly dancing with her, just like Harry had done with her. 

“When did you realised that you fell in love with Mummy?” asked Rose suddenly. 

“I realised I was in love with Hermione during the beginning of our fourth year. But I believe that it was earlier for you, wasn’t it?” he asked to his wife.

“Yes. Personally, it was when your father and I went back in time...”


	7. When Hermione fell for Harry

“What we need, is more time.”

Hermione and Harry were currently in the Hospital Wing. They had just learned shortly before the truth about the betrayal of Harry’s family. Sirius Black, the man believed to have betrayed the Potters to Lord Voldemort and killed Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles was actually innocent, these crimes having been committed by Pettigrew himself. Pettigrew had been their Secret-Keeper, he had been the one to murder twelve people before faking his own death and framing Sirius. And Sirius had escaped Azkaban to protect Harry.

Sirius Black was his godfather. Harry had a family. Hermione knew that having a family was Harry’s deepest desire. He had one confessed about what he had seen in the Mirror of Erised. Hermione had barely slept that night, realising just how much her actions at five-years-old at hurt Harry. She had known it had, of course, but she hadn’t realised to what extend until he had told her about the Mirror of Erised. When she apologised again for what had happened, Harry had simply shrugged it off.

But now, Harry had a family. Hermione knew that she would do her best to help Harry keep it.

However, things quickly turned bad after they left the Shrieking Shack. Professor Lupin had forgotten to take his Wolfsbane Potion and turned into a wild werewolf. Harry, Hermione and Ron were saved just in time by Sirius who had transformed into his dog Animagus form known as Padfoot and pushed the werewolf away. In the confusion, Peter Pettigrew had escaped.

Wanting to protect his godfather, Hermione had seen Harry run in the direction where the Animagus had disappeared and quickly followed him. When they found Sirius, he was holding his head and moaning in pain. Dementors had found them and were slowly draining them of their happiness. Harry had told her to use the Patronus Charm but as she had never used it before, it didn’t take long for her to lose consciousness. The last thing she saw was Harry falling to his knees.

Hermione and Harry woke up in the Hospital Wing and tried to tell what they had learned to Minister Fudge, Professors Dumbledore and Snape but only Dumbledore seemed to believe in them. Hermione was disheartened to heard that the Headmaster did not have the power to overrule the actions of the Minister which brought them to their current situation.

“What we need,” said Dumbledore slowly, and his light blue eyes moved from Harry to Hermione, “is more time.”

Harry didn’t get Dumbledore’s secret message but Hermione certainly did. “OH!” she said, her eyes becoming very round.

Speaking very lowly and clearly, the Headmaster spoke up. “Now, pay attention. Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick’s office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this, both of you: you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law, you know what is at stake… You. Must. Not. Be. Seen.” he said before turning on his heel and walking toward the door. Looking back, he said “I am going to lock you in. It is...” he consulted his watch, “five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck.”

“Hermione? What is he talking about?” said Harry, her friend looking at her with confusion.

Hermione however wasn’t listening. She pulled a strange necklace from her robes and said “Come here, quickly!”

“What are you doing?” he asked when she put the necklace around both their necks. Hermione didn’t answer as she turned the small sparkling hourglass of the necklace three times. Hermione saw the familiar sight ghost like figures moving around them, two of them being themselves. It was like watching a movie in reserve and in accelerated speed. She knew that it must have been very confusing to Harry.

“Hermione, please! What is going on?” he pleaded. Hermione took Harry’s hand and dragged him in a broom cupboard. The action made her blush and saw that Harry did as well but she ignored it as it wasn’t the time to think about that.

“We travelled back in time, Harry.” she finally answered.

“What!?” said Harry, shocked. “How is it possible?”

“Shh...” she interrupted. “Someone is coming.” After realising that the footsteps were from their past selves, they let them walk away before she continued. “This necklace  allows people to travel a few hours back in time. That’s how I have been attending all of my classes this year.”

“Thats... brilliant. But where did you get that thing?”

“That necklace is known as a Time-Turner. Professor McGonagall gave it to me at the beginning of the year and was told not to tell anyone about it.” explained Hermione.

“So, we are back in time, and we can save more than one live. That’s what Dumbledore said. But who?” asked Harry.

“ Well, the first one would be Sirius...”

“Obviously.”

“Obviously, but the second one...”

“Buckbeak!” said Harry suddenly. “Professor Dumbledore told us that Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick’s Office which is on the Seventh Floor! He even told us which window it was! We can save Buckbeak then fly to the window, save Sirius and let Sirius fly away on Buckbeak’s back!”

“Yes!” said Hermione. “That’s brilliant!”

“I do have my moments.” said a chuckling Harry.

“I know that, you prat. However, our time is limited so we better move, now!” she said before opening the door of the cupboard. Hermione led Harry toward Hagrid’s hut, taking a wider path so that the time travelling duo would be less visible from the castle. Hermione and Harry entered the forest near Hagrid’s hut and stayed hidden, looking through the window at what was happening inside.

“Hermione... Pettigrew is there!” said Harry, suddenly realising the fact. “We could get him now and...”

“No, Harry!” said Hermione. “Something I figured out this year is that we can’t change the timeline!”

“What? But how are we supposed to save Buckbeak? We saw him die!”

“If you remember, we didn’t. Trees, bushes and giant pumpkins were hiding Buckbeak from our view! Buckbeak could easily have been far away at that point and the  executioner might just have use his axe to cut a pumpkin in two!”

“So, everything that happened will happen?” said Harry.

“Yes.”

Harry thought about it for a moment before his eyes grew wide. “I think you are right... I think I saw myself before we ended up in the Hospital Wing!”

“WHAT!?” she shouted before putting a hand over her mouth. Her shout had been heard from the inside of Hagrid’s hut. Hagrid took a look outside, looking for students but noticed three wizards walking toward his hut. “We are coming out.” she whispered. And indeed, Hermione and Harry saw their younger selves and Ron exiting Hagrid’s hut and discretely running back toward the castle. Meanwhile, the trio of adults arrived at Hagrid’s and knocked on the door.

“What did you mean you saw yourself?” asked Hermione quietly.

“Around the lake, when the Dementors were attacking us. Just before I fainted, I saw a corporal Stag Patronus being launched from the other side by someone who looked like me! At the time I barely had time to think that my Dad had somehow returned before fainting but now I think it was me! Buckbeak and Sirius’ lives aren’t the only ones we need to save, so are ours!” he said.

Hermione looked at Harry incredulously. She wanted to tell him that it didn’t make any sense but the problem was that it did. It did make sense and she was slowly believing that Harry had been the one to cast the Patronus. “Alright, we better get starting then.” she said.

Hermione and Harry managed to save Buckbeak rather quickly and were amused when they saw the executioner, Macnair, ‘execute’ one of Hagrid’s giant pumpkins. Hermione led the hippogriff and her best friend toward a spot where they could see the Whomping Willow rather easily and sat down under one of the trees.

Resting while waiting for their counterparts to exit the secret passageway under the Whomping Willow allowed Hermione to reflect about the past three years since she and Harry had met again. She remembered how cold he had been toward her before he nearly sacrificed his life to save hers on Halloween. She remembered being present on his bedside every day for three weeks, wondering if his ‘last words’, him calling her a friend had been real. Her biggest fear at the time was for him to turn back on his words and regret trying to save her. Fears found themselves to be unfounded when Harry woke up and not only was friendly toward her, but reassured her that he did consider her a friend again.

Even after everything that had happened that year, that one had turned out to be one of the happiest in her life. Now only did she have her first and best friend back, she also had a new one in Ron Weasley. Together, the three friends had quickly been nicknamed the “Golden Trio” by their fellow Gryffindors. Hermione had also witnessed her feelings toward Harry change near the end of the year.

Second year had been worse, although her friendships with Harry and Ron were only strengthened. The school quickly fell under the fear of the Heir of Slytherin and its monster when students were starting to get petrified. When it was revealed that Harry was a  Parselmouth , he had been quickly shunned by everyone else, thinking that he was the Heir of Slytherin. It seemed that only Hermione and Ron believed otherwise.

Tragedy had struck when Hermione became one of the victims of the Heir. She had heard Harry complain yet again that he was hearing the voice when it clicked in her mind. Harry was a  Parselmouth , so he would be the only one able to hear the monster if it was a snake! It made sense after all, snakes were the symbol of Salazar Slytherin. Hermione had run toward the library and found a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. In the book, she found a page about the Basilisk and understood that it was Slytherin’s monster. Hermione had exited the library at the same time as Penelope Clearwater, sixth-year Ravenclaw prefect and girlfriend of Percy Weasley. As Penelope was a prefect, Hermione believed that Penelope should be told about her findings so that she could tell the staff. When Penelope had heard about her theory, she had quickly accepted it and conjured a mirror so that they could check if the monster was around the corner before walking there. It was a good thing she did as the first time the first corridor they checked was the corridor where the Basilisk was currently present. Hermione and Penelope had been petrified instantly.

Hermione had woken up with a scream in the middle of the night in the Hospital Wing. She had immediately started blabbing about how she knew what the monster was but Madam Pomfrey had quickly reassured her, telling her that Harry had killed it when he rescued Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets mere hours before. As the school was currently holding a feast, Hermione had run toward the Great Hall. She had been spotted nearly immediately by Neville who had quickly told Harry and Ron. She remembered Harry’s reaction to seeing her alive and well. His grin could have lit up the whole room. His reaction had made her heart beat a lot faster as she ran toward her two friends. Harry had also raised up and ran toward her and both of them met in the middle of the Great Hall and found each other in the other’s arms. Hermione remembered how happy and safe she felt in Harry’s arms.

Third year hadn’t been as bad but hers and Harry’s friendship at taken a hit on Christmas Day. During the month's priors, Hermione and Harry were slowly getting closer to each other, something Hermione hadn’t minded at all. At that point, Hermione had realised that she liked Harry more than just a friend. She just hadn’t known to what extent. On Christmas Day, Harry had received a brand new Firebolt broomstick. The Firebolt was the best broomstick on the market and was also the most expensive one. The fact that the broomstick had been sent by an anonymous person had alerted Hermione. And this is when she made a big mistake.

Hermione had gone straight to Professor McGonagall who proceeded to confiscate the broomstick until it was cleared of any harmful charms and hexes. Ron had been outraged at what Hermione had done and had stormed away. Hermione had ignored Ron’s reaction. What she was looking for was Harry’s. And she had been heartbroken by the look of betrayal in Harry’s eyes. Harry hadn’t shouted like Ron; he actually hadn’t even reacted. Harry had just raised up and walked away. Hermione had gone back to her dorm and cried. She knew that there was a high possibility that she was sacrificing her friendship with Harry with her actions but it was a risk she had been willing to take. She preferred to have Harry angry and mad at her than dead on the Quidditch Pitch. Harry hadn’t talked to her for the rest of the Holidays. His actions were a lot similar to how he had acted when they had both arrived to Hogwarts. Hermione had spent a very lonely Christmas Day and following week and a half.

The first time Harry had talked to Hermione after the Firebolt incident was on the last day before classes resumed. Harry had asked Hermione to talk alone and he had asked her why she had gone to Professor McGonagall without even talking to Harry first. Hermione had shyly answered, saying that she feared that he wouldn’t accept her fears and that if she had still done after that, she knew that there would be no chances ever to reconciliate. Harry had answered back, saying that he would have gone to McGonagall himself had she told him his fears. Actually, Harry had even thought about it before flying the broom for the first time. What had hurt Harry was that Hermione had gone behind his back. Hermione had then said that she was ready to sacrifice her friendship if it meant that Harry was alive.

Hermione had been expecting Harry to leave after their talk. What she hadn’t expected was for Harry to take her in his arms and give her a strong hug. She was relieved when he told her that he wasn’t mad at her, he just wanted her not to go behind his back and to talk to him first. Hermione had cried in relief in Harry’s chest, happy that she hadn’t lost his friendship again.

Hermione was glad to still be friends with Harry. She glanced toward her friend, wanting to give him a smile but she noticed how sad  he looked.

“Harry?” she asked, concerned.

“I’m sorry.” he said suddenly.

“W-What?” said the now confused Hermione.

“I’m sorry, for how I treated you during the Christmas Holidays.” 

So that’s what it was about. Hermione rolled her eyes. “And what exactly Is there to apologise for?”

“For how I treated you.” he said, finally looking at her. Hermione was surprised to see a tear roll out of his eye.

“Oh, Harry.” she said, taking him in her arms. His head fell on his shoulder. “You have nothing to apologise for because you did nothing wrong.” she said.

“But...”

“No, Harry!” she said. “The only thing you did was that you didn’t talk to me. You didn’t exactly avoid me nor did you ever insult me or anything. You were always polite in the few words you exchanged.”

“But it wasn’t...”

“...right?” finished Hermione. Harry nodded. “Harry, you were hurt by my actions. It’s normal that you didn’t want to talk to me right away and needed time to calm down before you did. You have nothing to apologise for because you didn’t do anything wrong.” she said. Harry nodded again and muttered “Thanks.”

It was while holding Harry in her arms and seeing the concern he had for her feelings that made Hermione realise something. She knew that she lived Harry as more than a friend. But she had never realised to what extent. Now she knew. Hermione Granger was completely in love with Harry Potter. The revelation made her gasp quietly but since her mouth was near one of Harry’s ears, Harry heard her.

“Hermione?” he asked.

“Nothing.” she said quickly, giving her a timid but reassuring smile. Harry smile back before sitting back alongside her.

Hermione wondered if Harry felt the same way toward her. At times, Hermione had  certaintly felt like Harry liked her more than a friend but she wasn’t sure. Harry wasn’t an emotional person so it wouldn’t be easy to tell. She also knew that Harry hadn’t had great examples of love when he was raised at the Dursleys and feared that if he did had feelings for her, he might not realise what they meant until it was too late. If he didn’t however... after their history, she would settle on being friends if that’s what he wanted, even if it hurt her. She wanted him to be happy and would try her hardest to be sure that it would be what would happen in his future.

“Here we come!” whispered Harry. As she and Harry got to their feet, Hermione took another glance at Harry. This time, he was slightly smirking, looking happy. When his eyes glanced at her, Hermione couldn’t help but blush while looking away. She barely saw Harry’s smirk transform into a smile before he said “We should go toward the lake so that I can use the Patronus Charm.”

“Yes.” nodded Hermione, still pink in the face. “Let’s go.”

Hermione, Harry and Buckbeak walked toward the lake and where they waited for their counterparts to show up. They felt the coldness and sensations of dread and unhappiness broadcasted by the Dementors as they converged around Sirius. They witnessed themselves trying to conjure Patroni but failed. Sirius fainted first, followed by the younger Hermione who did as Harry was falling on his knees.

“When are you going to do it?” asked Hermione with worry.

“Not yet...” he said.

“Harry, you do realise that you can’t change the timeline? You don’t have to wait for a specific moment to do it! The moment you will, it will be the exact same time as our first go-around!”

“Oh yeah...” he said before he ran toward the edge of the lake. “EXPECTO PATRONUM!” he shouted. A giant white stag burst out of Harry’s wand and galloped toward the Dementors at the same time as other Harry fainted. Waves of lights were pouring out of the stag and pushing Dementors away from Sirius and their two counterparts.

Hermione felt the warm of the Patronus and the happiness that came with it. Looking at Harry, she couldn’t help but feel like he looked good, handsome even, with his wand pointed toward the other side of the lake where a brilliant white stag was galloping around, pushing Dementors away. Hermione was tempted to just go and kiss him right then and there.

Oh, did she hope that Harry felt the same way toward her!...

* * *

“And I can tell you that I felt that way indeed!” grinned Harry.

“I had my suspicions when I saw you smiling at me under the tree.” answered Hermione.

“I had noticed how you were looking at me and, while I didn’t understand what it meant, I knew I liked it when you were looking at me like that.” said Harry before he turned toward their daughter. “Just like Hermione, at that point, I was in love with her. A year before when Hermione was petrified was when I realised that my feelings for her were different than Ron or really anyone else. I knew I liked Hermione more than a normal best-friend but I didn’t understand what it meant.”

“Bloody Dursleys...” muttered Hermione.

“Language Mum!” shouted Rose before she started giggling. Harry burst out laughing. A bewildered Hermione sat there in silence, looking at her family.

“That’s the first time I’m being told off for my language by my  daughter... ” she  said .

“It was time for the tables to turn.” grinned Harry. “Just like her mother, she is.” he said, looking admirably at Rose.

“Fine, I’m sorry for my language.” said Hermione, trying to sound angry but failing to do so. “So, ‘Dad’,” she said. “When did you realise that you were in love with me?”

“That would be sometime in November 1994. My name had just been drawn from the Goblet of Fire and...”


	8. When Harry fell for Hermione

“Harry Potter.” 

Harry gaped toward the staff table. Today was Halloween 1994, the day where the champions for the first edition of the revived Tri-Wizard Tournament were chosen. Harry had never entered his name and yet, his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. He should have seen it coming. He really should have. After all, today was Halloween. Something bad had always happened on Halloween since he had come to Hogwarts. 

And yet, he hadn’t seen it coming. 

Harry sat there, barely aware that the entirety of the Great Hall was looking at him. A very silent Great Hall. 

He glanced at his friends. Both were looking at him with a blank expression. Still, Harry could see in Ron’s eyes that anger was slowly starting to build up. Anger directed at him. Hermione’s feelings about the situation however was what he wanted, no, _needed_ to know. Unlike Ron, Harry couldn’t discern anything in Hermione’s eyes except shock. 

“I didn’t put my name in! You know I didn’t... right?” he whispered to them. Neither reacted. 

“Harry Potter!” repeated the voice of Dumbledore. 

Ron started scowling while Hermione just pushed him on his feet. “Go on.” she said. 

“Hermione...” 

“Go!” 

The atmosphere around him was heavy. Harry felt like he was slowly walking to his death. Everyone was looking at him and Harry saw the stares that came all around the Great Hall. More than one was an angry one. 

After what felt like an eternity, Harry entered the smaller room adjacent to the Great Hall. The other three selected Champions were standing around the fireplace. “What is it?” said Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons Champion. “Do zey want us back in ze Hall?” 

A debate soon started when the teachers joined in. Understandably, the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons Headmasters and Champions were pissed that Harry’s name had come out of the Goblet and that Hogwarts now had a second Champion. Harry had quickly tuned out the conversation once he had answered Dumbledore’s questions. 

Harry was worried about the reactions of his friends. While he was disappointed about the direction Ron was heading toward, he wasn’t really surprised. He knew that Ron’s deepest desire was to make a name for himself, to not be in someone else’s shadow and having your already famous best mate suddenly being entered in a Tournament which you wanted to join in yourself... Well, let’s just say that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Ron refused to speak to him in the following days, nor that it wouldn’t hurt him if he didn’t. 

What he was worried about was Hermione’s seemingly lack of reaction. Harry knew that Hermione had been shocked, but she also looked at him blankly. It didn’t make him comfortable and he feared that Hermione would believe that he had entered his name in the Goblet. 

After nearly an hour of talks between the Professors, the Champions were let go. Harry left nearly trembling. The results the Professors had come to was that Harry had been entered as an assassination attempt! And even with that, they still forced him to compete in the Tournament! When Harry arrived at the entrance of Gryffindor Tower, he stopped in front of the Fat Lady before taking a deep, relaxing breath. 

“Well, well, well...” said the Fat Lady. “Violet’s just told me everything. Who’s just been chosen as school champion then?” 

“Balderdash.” said Harry, not wanting to hear the gossip from the portraits. 

“It most certainly isn’t!” said the second woman in the portrait. 

“No, no, no, Vi. It’s the password.” said the Fat Lady before opening the entrance. He was surprised when he was met with a blast of noise. It didn’t take long for people to notice him, nor for people to drag him into the common room. Harry looked around and was disappointed when he saw that both Hermione and Ron were missing. Ron was probably in their dorm room so he would be able to talk to him but Hermione would be in hers and boys weren’t allowed up there. He would have to wait until tomorrow to talk to Hermione. Hopefully, she would believe him... 

* * *

“I never realised how tired, alone and scared you must have felt that night.” said Hermione sadly. “Had I known; I would have stayed in the common room.” 

“It’s okay love.” reassured Harry. 

“Why were you sleeping?” asked Rose to her mother. 

“I wasn’t.” said Hermione. “I was shocked about what had happened, I was scared about Harry and I was tired. Oh, and the music was incredibly loud and annoying. So, I went to bed.” she added with a smile. 

“You talked the next day then?” asked Rose. 

“Yes.” said Harry. “That morning, I had woken up still tired of the evening. I hadn’t slept well that night because of what had happened and Ron’s reaction. You might remember that I had mentioned once that in the first few months of our first year, I had a nightmare that Hermione was turning her back on me again after something bad happened to me. I had it again that night and feared that I would be completely alone. Thankfully, one look at your mother and I knew I wasn’t...” he said, looking happily at Hermione. 

* * *

Harry dressed up for the day. He felt miserable about what had happened with Ron the previous night and was scared that Hermione felt the same way. When he entered the common room, the whispers started again. Harry quickly walked toward the exit but before he could push it open, the Fat Lady opened the entrance and Harry found himself face-to-face with Hermione. 

Hermione was surprised and even shocked when she saw Harry flinch at her presence. She remembered however that Ron had looked angry after Harry’s name had come out and had refused to talk. She had the suspicion that Ron had believed that Harry had entered his name, something that Hermione felt was confirmed by the small look of fear in Harry’s bright green eyes. He feared that she would reject him as well. 

“I believe you.” she blurted out, right away. 

“You... You do?” said Harry, shocked. 

“Of course, I do!” she answered back. “I know that you never cared about fame, money or glory and that you weren’t interested in risking your life in a dangerous Tournament. Honestly, your face yesterday sealed the deal. You looked more shocked than everyone else around us.” 

Harry let out a breath of relief. “Thank god.” he said before taking Hermione in a strong hug. “Ron didn’t believe me and I feared that you wouldn’t either.” Suddenly realising what he was doing, Harry let go of Hermione, blushing. Hermione wasn’t much better. 

“I- I brought you this.” she said, showing the small stack of toast she had been holding the whole time. “Want to go for a walk?” 

“Good idea.” said Harry. “Thanks.” 

“No problems.” she said, smiling. 

Harry quickly found out in the following weeks that apart from Hermione, not really anyone believed in his innocence. It seemed that only the Professors and a few students didn’t believe that Harry had entered his name in the Goblet of Fire. The only students that believed him that weren’t acquaintances were Neville, Ginny and the Weasley Twins. 

Harry had come to learn just how much Hermione’s presence meant to him during the preparation for the First Task. He knew that, had she not believed him, Harry would have felt utterly alone. But since she was there with him, he didn’t. The girl had taken to a library frenzy, trying to look for every useful spell imaginable that they could teach each other. Most of the time, Harry was there and helping her simply because he didn’t have anywhere else to be. 

Hermione had found many useful spells and had received the permission from Professor McGonagall to use an unused classroom as their own practice room for the duration of the Tournament. Here, the duo learned many useful spells. While life inside the castle became slowly worse over time, time spent with Hermione became better and better. Harry’s feelings slowly for his best friend slowly refined over time until it came to a clash just before the first task. 

After eating a small breakfast, an anxious Professor McGonagall lead Harry toward the Champion’s tent just outside of the arena. “You’re to go in here with the other champions and wait for your turn.” she said. “Mr. Bagman is in there... he’ll be telling you the... the procedure. ... Good luck, Potter.” 

“Thanks.” he said in a flat, distant voice. Harry was trying very hard to hide his fear and nervousness. He half-listened to Mr. Bagman’s instructions and he wasn't even surprised when he ended up with the most dangerous dragon of the lot. Harry took a seat on a chair and closed his eyes. 

He was going to die... 

There was no other way around it. He was going to die for people’s entertainment. He knew that he would be missed by few but he didn’t really care. All that mattered was what Hermione would feel like. Merlin, she would be devastated. He knew he would be if the girl he loved died. 

Harry suddenly gasped. ‘The girl he loved...’ It suddenly clicked in his mind. Harry finally knew what his feelings toward his best friend meant. He was in love with Hermione! 

While Harry was thick, he wasn’t stupid enough to think that he wasn’t attracted toward Hermione nor that he didn’t have feelings toward her. He knew he liked her but he never realised that he was completely in love with her. Not until now at least. Not right before he had to go up against a bloody dragon. 

“Pssst!” he suddenly heard from behind. Harry turned around and Hermione look around the tent before entering it. Harry instantly raised to his feet. 

“Hermione?” asked Harry, shocked. “What are you doing here?” 

“Come to see you, of course.” she said, biting her lower lip. Merlin, it made him want to kiss her. “Are you alright?” 

Knowing he couldn’t lie to her, he said “No.” Hermione let out a sob before she jumped in Harry’s arms. They stayed in their embrace for a few minutes before Harry talked again. “Hermione... there is something I need to tell you.” 

“Harry?” asked Hermione, suddenly nervous. 

“In case something happens to me today... I want you to know that... that I love you, Hermione Granger.” 

Hermione burst out crying and held Harry in an even stronger hold. “I love you too but listen here Harry James Potter...” she started before looking straight into his eyes. “You better come back to me or I will be very angry!” 

“I’ll try my best.” he whispered and before he could think about what he was doing, Harry kissed her on the lips. Hermione let a small gasp in shock before she kissed him back. Harry was pleased when Hermione let a small moan of pleasure. Harry knew that kissing Hermione would be good, but he never expected how great it would be. 

Hermione felt like something had just lit up in her heart when Harry kissed her. She had been pleasantly shocked when Harry had kissed her. Harry loved her! Her! Hermione Granger! The bookworm with bushy hair and large front teeth! ‘Okay, the last one wasn’t the case anymore but still!’ 

The new couple separated when they heard a whistle. Both looked pained by their separation but they knew that they couldn’t do anything. Harry had to go participate in the First Task and Hermione would be forced to watch while unable to help him. 

Harry walked toward the entrance of the arena before stopping and looking back at Hermione one last time. He memorised her face in case he couldn’t see her again. While he would do his absolute best to survive, especially now that he knew Hermione loved him back, he had prepared for the worst-case scenario. The previous night, before going to sleep, Harry had made a Last Will and Testament where he indicated that he let everything he owned to Hermione. He had put it in his trunk, knowing that someone who find it there... 

* * *

“WHAT!?” screeched Hermione, making Harry and Rose jump in surprise. “You made a Last Will and Testament that night?” she asked, not knowing if she should be sad or angry. 

Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah... I wanted to be sure that you would get everything I owned if something happened to me.” he explained. “You were the only one that had stuck with me through everything and I believed that you deserved it.” 

Hermione took him and Rose in a bone crushing hug. “I’m sorry that you believed that you might die.” 

“Blame it on Barty Crouch Jr.” said Harry. “Had it not been for him, I wouldn’t have ended up there.” 

“The First Task was probably one of the worse times in my life.” said Hermione. Her face was slightly green as she remembered all the emotions that had crossed her mind at the time. 

“After the task was great however.” said Harry. 

“That it was, I can confirm it.” she said, smiling. 

* * *

He had done it! Harry had not only survived but gotten the Golden Egg! He hadn’t died and hadn’t made Hermione angry. He knew that he didn’t want Hermione angry at him, even after death. Considering it was Hermione, she would find a way to call his spirit just to give him a piece of her mind. Maybe she would build something like a stone that you turned three times in your hand or something like that... 

“Harry!” heard Harry, the delighted shout of Hermione coming from the other side of the tent. 

“Hermione!” said Harry before running toward her. Hermione jumped in his open arms and kissed him senseless. Harry quickly wrapped his arms around Hermione’s waist and kissed her back. Harry felt Hermione’s tongue rub against his lips and he opened his mouth, happily granting her entrance. Their tongues fought like swordfighters in their mouth while both moaned in pleasure. 

“Hem, hem.” The couple didn’t hear it. “Hem, Hem!” came another, louder throat-clearing. 

Harry and Hermione froze, remembering where they were before they separated. Both flushed faces turned toward Ronald Weasley. 

“It was about time.” he said, smirking at the couple. 

“W-What?” 

“That you two got together.” he said. “Honestly, I saw it happening back in first year!” 

“Ah.” said Harry. Hermione looked with narrowed eyes at Ron, something the boy didn’t miss. 

“Listen... I’m sorry for how I acted. I was...” 

“Jealous?” asked Hermione. 

“Yes.” sighed Ron. “I was jealous that you were getting even more fame and recognition that you already had and that you had a shot at a one-thousand galleon price and I never really thought about how you felt about the whole situation. I’m ashamed that it took me seeing you go against the dragon to realise that I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes so... well... I’m sorry.” said Ron, looking down. 

Harry glanced at Hermione and when she saw her smile and nod, he said “It’s okay. I accept your apology.” he said before grinning. Both Ron and Hermione grinned as well. The ‘Golden Trio’ was back! 

* * *

“And that’s how your mother and I got together!” said Harry proudly.

“Yay!” said Rose happily. This made her parents chuckle.

“Apparently, students and even professors were betting about when we would get together.” said Hermione.

“Ah yes. They did so since our First Year.” grinned Harry. “I think Professor Dumbledore once told me that he won enough on the bet to buy himself a few  years' worth of Lemon Drops.”

“Dumbledore bet on us!?”

“He did” laughed Harry. “Told me in passing a few days after the First Task. I know that the Weasley twins also did a bet but they had predicted that we would get together in six year so they lost.”

“Obviously they bet on us.” said Hermione, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, our relationship was great. Turns out that we worked even better as a couple than as friends. When the Yule Ball was announced, Harry didn’t wait to invite me to the dance.”

“I was a bit scared at first. I didn’t really know how to dance and didn’t want to embarrass your mother. Your mum realised this and asked Professor McGonagall for dancing lessons. Thankfully, I didn’t embarrass Hermione at the Yule Ball and we had a lot of fun!”

“When is the next story then?” asked Rose, impatiently. Like her mother, Rose could figure out things when people talked.

Harry sighed, looking at Hermione sadly. Hermione returned his sad smile. “That would be at the end of our Fifth Year, right after your mother was gravely injured, right after my godfather Sirius died...”


	9. Revelations

Harry crashed on the ground, the head of the golden wizard that had served as a Portkey rolling on the ground. He glanced around and saw that Dumbledore’s Portkey had sent him to Dumbledore’s office. This made him angry. Why hadn’t he been sent to the Hospital Wing where Hermione would soon be? 

Raising up on his feet, Harry walked toward the exit and tried to open the door. He couldn’t. The door had been locked. He tried a few times before he gave up and kicked it in an angry huff. He stood in front of the door; his eyes closed. Memories of the evening were creeping back up. He kept seeing Hermione get hit by that damn curse and Sirius falling through the Veil. He remembered blowing up and accidently killing Dolohov with a Reductor Curse, the Death Eater who had sent the curse at Hermione. He hadn’t planned to kill anyone but his curse had been overpowered by Harry’s anger and it had hit the Death Eater’s head instead of its torso as he had intended. 

Harry couldn’t avoid the guilt that crashed through his body. There was no escape. It was his fault that Sirius had died, his fault that his girlfriend was inches away from death. Hermione had told him that it was probably a trap, and Harry hadn’t listened to her. It had cost Sirius his life and might have cost Hermione’s hers as well. 

The fireplace flared green and Dumbledore came out of it. Harry wanted to ask how was everyone, how was Hermione but the words were stuck in his throat. 

As if he knew what Harry was thinking about, Dumbledore spoke up. “Well, Harry. You will be pleased to hear that none of your fellow students are going to suffer lasting damage from the night’s events.” Harry let out a breath, slowly relaxing. Hermione was safe! She was safe... He tried to say “Good.” but, again, no sound came out. “Everyone else should make a full recovery as well but Miss Tonks might need to stay a few days at St. Mungo’s.” 

Harry closed his eyes and said “I want... I need to see Hermione.” 

“Miss Granger is currently in the Hospital Wing.” said the Headmaster. “You will be able to visit him, once I talked to you.” 

“About what?” said Harry, dryly. 

Dumbledore sighed sadly. “I know how you feel, Harry.” 

Harry snorted. “No, you don’t.” he said, his voice suddenly sounding venomous. 

“There is no shame in what you are feeling, Harry. On the contrary, the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength...” 

“ _My greatest strength...?_ ” said Hary calmly, yet with a tone of hidden anger. “You haven’t got a clue... you don’t know...” 

“What don’t I know?” 

“I don’t want to talk how I fell, all right?” 

“Harry, suffering like this proves that you are still a man! This pain is part of being human...” 

Harry finally snapped and released his anger. “THEN I DON’T WANT TO BE HUMAN!” he shouted before seizing one of Dumbledore’s silver trinkets laying around on a small wooden table and threw it across the room. The trinket shattered into multiple tiny pieces when it hit the wall. “I’VE HAD ENOUGH, I’VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON’T CARE ANYMORE...” Harry took another trinket and threw it in the fireplace before he took the whole table and threw it on the wall, making it break apart. 

“You do care.” said Dumbledore, not looking shocked at Harry’s display. “You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.” 

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW I FEEL, YOU... STANDING THERE... YOU...” he said but it was too much. With an angry shout, Harry turned away and went to the door. He tried opening it yet again but it didn’t bulge. “Let me out.” 

“No.” said Dumbledore simply. 

Harry glared at Dumbledore. “Let. Me. Out. I need to see Hermione.” 

“No.” repeated Dumbledore with a sigh. “Not until I have had my say.” 

“Do you think I want to listen to you? Do you think I give a shit about what you want to say? I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU’VE GOT TO SAY YOU OLD FOOL! I NEED TO SEE HERMIONE SO LET ME OUT!” 

“Harry... I will promise you that once you have listened to what I need to say, you will be able to go see Miss Granger at the Hospital Wing. Now, please, take a seat.” 

Harry glared again at Dumbledore and continued to do so while he was slowly making his way to a seat. 

“Now, Harry, I owe you an explanation...” 

To Harry’s surprise, Dumbledore started by blaming himself for what had happened that night. It helped Harry slightly, knowing that he didn’t share all of the blame but he still feels horrendously guilty about what had happened to Sirius and Hermione, especially Hermione who had followed him to the Department of Mysteries just because Harry had refused to believe in her warnings. She had been the one in their group to bear the cost. 

Then, Dumbledore shared the suspicions that Voldemort would try to bring him to the Ministry to get the Prophecy and his failure to share them to Harry as, like he had said, if he had shared them then Harry would have realised it was a trap. Harry had told him how Hermione had realised this as well but Harry hadn’t believed it anyway. Dumbledore had simply retorqued by saying that Harry already had convinced himself that his vision was real and that nobody could have dissuaded him from his belief. The only way it could have changed was if Harry had known it advance that Voldemort was likely to try something like that. 

Dumbledore told Harry that when Voldemort had tried to possess Harry, he was seeking out his destruction at Dumbledore’s hand, hoping that the Headmaster would have sacrificed his student for Voldemort’s death. That Harry had managed to fight him with his love for his friend, for his godfather but most importantly: his love for Hermione. 

The two wizards then talked loudly about Kreacher and Sirius until they finally arrived at the point of this whole talk. The Prophecy. 

“...the thing that smashed was merely the record of the prophecy kept by the Department of Mysteries. But the prophecy was made to somebody, and that person has the means of recalling it perfectly.” 

“Who heard it?” 

“I did,” said Dumbledore. “On a cold, wet night sixteen years ago, in a room above the bar at the Hog’s Head Inn. I had gone there to see an applicant for the post of Divination teacher, though it was against my inclination to allow the subject of Divination to continue at all. The applicant, however, was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous, very gifted Seer, and I thought it common politeness to meet her. I was disappointed. It seemed to me that she had not a trace of the gift herself.” 

“Wait, you mean Professor Trelawney?” asked Harry with shock. Then he remembered what the Headmaster had told him in his Third Year after he witnessed Professor Trelawney fall into a weird trance. He had told him that she had done her second true prophecy. 

“Yes Harry.” said Dumbledore, raising up on his feet and bringing his pensieve on the desk. “This is what it says...” 

_“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. …”_

Harry palled. “I have to kill him? Either he dies or I do?” 

Professor Dumbledore nodded. “Yes. The only person who has a chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times.” 

Harry closed his eyes, a tear leaking out of his eye. It was too dangerous to be close to people. Now that he knew that Voldemort really was after him, and that Harry was his number one target, he knew that no-one could be allowed too close to him. Maybe it was better... Hermione wouldn’t suffer again... 

“I know what you are thinking Harry, but pushing your loved ones away will not help anyone, especially not you.” 

“I’m too dangerous. People could die... people have died because... because of me. Cedric! Sirius! And nearly Hermione today!” 

“Harry, I believe that ‘ _The Power the Dark Lord knows not’_ is Love. Love is one of the strongest magics on earth and pushing away people you love would lower your chances to succeed against Lord Voldemort. I have no doubts that Miss Granger will tell you the same thing when you next see her.” 

“Okay...” he said. He would forget about it for the time being. 

“When I learned what had happened in Godric’s Hollow all those nights ago, I realised that Voldemort wasn’t gone forever. I knew not whether he would come back in then, twenty or fifty years but I was sure he would do. Knowing that he wouldn’t rest until he killed you, I brought you to your only remaining family, the Dursleys. There, you would be protected by various powerful enchantments of ancient magic, of which he knows and despises, and which he has always, therefore, underestimated, to his cost. I am, of course, speaking about the love of your mother, a protection that he never expected. I therefore put my trust in your mother’s blood and delivered you to her sister, her only remaining relative...” 

Harry snorted. “She doesn’t love me.” he said. “She doesn’t give a damn...” However, at the back of his mind, something was starting to wake up. 

“But she took you in.” Dumbledore cut across him. “She may have done so unwillingly but in doing so, she sealed the charm that I placed upon you. Your mother’s sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you.” 

“What do you mean?” he asked, the weird feeling becoming stronger. 

“You probably wondered why couldn’t some wizarding family have taken you in? It was simply because while you could still call home the place where your mother’s blood dwelled, you couldn’t be touched or harmed by Voldemort. Your mother’s blood became your refuge. As long as you could still call it home.” 

“Other families wanted to take me in?” he asked. He didn’t know why he did so but he felt like it was important. 

“Yes. Some good families such as the Weasleys, Diggorys, Tonks or Longbottoms had offered to take you in but some others like the Lestranges, Malfoys and Averys.” said Dumbledore. “Thankfully, I managed to deal with all of their offers so that you would be able to stay with your family.” 

Harry frowned. Then, it clicked. 

_“Why?” said Harry in a hurt, betrayed voice. “I-I don’t k-know.” cried Hermione. “I-I wanted to s-say yes b-but before I d-did so, I s-suddenly felt angry at my p-parents' idea and I s-said no.”_

_“Thankfully, I managed to deal with all of their offers so that you would be able to stay with your family.”_

Harry raised to his feet, trembling in rage. Hermione had said many times that she had never understood why she suddenly felt angry at the idea of having Harry live with them. She was never able to explain it to her shame and embarrassment. 

“Did one of these families happened to be the Grangers?” he asked quietly. 

Dumbledore frowned for a bit before his eyes suddenly widened in surprise. It was confirmation enough for Harry. 

“What did you do?” 

“Harry... I did what I had to do so that you could live with your family...” 

_“What. Did. You. Do?”_

Dumbledore sighed. “I learned that a muggle family wanted to adopt you. The day I decided to see who they were, I found them in the nearby park, sitting at a table of an ice-cream parlour. When I heard Miss Granger’s parents talk about moving out of town and wanting to adopt you to bring you with them, I put a Confundus Charm on Miss Granger to refuse the idea and one on her parents so that they would move out the next morning.” said Dumbledore. He dared looking ashamed! 

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR ACTIONS DID? NOT ONLY DID YOUR ACTIONS SEPARATE US OF OUR ONLY FRIEND, IT SENTENCED ME TO SIX YEARS OF ABUSE! NOT ONLY THAT BUT HERMIONE DIDN’T TRUST HERSELF TO HAVE ANY FRIENDS IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHY SHE HAD SAID NO SO VIOLENTLY, WHY SHE HAD BETRAYED ME AND IT WAS THE SAME THING FOR ME! I DIDN’T TRUST ANYONE TO BE MY FRIEND AGAIN! YOU CLAIM THAT MY GREATEST POWER IS LOVE YET WHEN YOU PUSHED HERMIONE AWAY, I STARTED BELIEVING THAT I WASN’T WORTHY OF BEING LOVED! THAT I WAS A FREAK! IT WAS BECAUSE OF YOU THAT HERMIONE AND I DIDN’T BECOME FRIENDS AGAIN UNTIL HALLOWEEN WHEN I NEARLY DIED SAVING HER FROM THE TROLL WHO JUST SO HAPPENED TO BE IN THE SAME BATHROOM WHERE HERMIONE HAD HIDDEN IN AFTER RON HAD INSULTED HER BECAUSE SHE HAD ANNOYED HIM TRYING TO BECOME MY FRIEND AGAIN WHILE I DIDN’T WANT TO BECAUSE I FELT LIKE SHE HAD BETRAYED ME!” he shouted. 

Dumbledore closed his eyes. For the first time in Harry’s life, Dumbledore wept. It was very hard to stay angry at someone who was crying which, ironically enough, made him even angrier. “I want to see Hermione and this time; I’m not taking no for an answer. If you have more to tell me then you will have to wait.” 

Dumbledore nodded before Harry heard a ‘click’ from the door. Harry walked toward the exit and was glad when the door opened. He slammed it shut behind and made his way toward the Hospital Wing. 


	10. Reunion

“Mr. Dumbledore did that to you?” asked Rose aghast.

“Yes.” said Harry sadly. “I don’t think I really trusted the man after that. I did, to some extent, but I stopped following his every word as if it was law. He might have believed he was right, but it doesn’t mean that his actions had been.”

“In retrospective, it wasn’t too bad of a decision.” said Hermione with a knowing smile. When Harry looked at her dumbfounded, she added “While I would prefer by far that you never had to live with the Dursleys for a single minute, had Dumbledore not done what he did to us, we would have grown up as siblings and the chances of us falling in love would have been extremely low and we wouldn’t have Rose with us.”

“What!?” said their shocked five-years-old daughter. “I want to be alive!”

Her parents chuckled. “You are alive Rose.” said Harry. “And you will always be our daughter. We love you.” he said, grabbing her in a hug.”

* * *

The Battle of the Department of Mysteries had taken place three days ago. Three days ago, Sirius Black had died. Three days ago, Hermione had been cursed and nearly lost her life. Harry hadn’t left her bedside since he came back from his talk with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore.

Harry was still angry at the old man. His simple actions had separated Harry and Hermione and made their next six years miserable. While it hadn’t cost as much for Hermione as it had for Harry, Hermione had been incredibly lonely during her childhood while Harry had to go through abuse by the Dursleys. Abuse becoming worse and worse. Dumbledore’s actions had made Hermione loose trust in herself and made Harry resent Hermione. And all that so that the Blood Protection could continue to exist.

Harry had stayed in the Hospital Wing day and night, holding her hand and sitting at her bedside as much as possible. Madam Pomfrey had reassured him when he had first arrived, telling him that Hermione would wake up in a few days and that she was simply unconscious to let her body heal itself efficiently. Ron was staying in the Hospital Wing because of his injuries as well but, unlike Hermione, he had woken up the first day. Ron was sleeping a few beds away from Hermione and Harry.

That night, Harry had fallen asleep while holding her hand, sitting on a wooden chair and his head on Hermione’s lap.

Hermione slowly woke up in the middle of the night. It took her a few seconds to recognise where she was. She felt something sitting on her lap while something else was in her hand. Looking down, she noticed that it was Harry who had fallen asleep holding her hand. She smiled. That scene looked very familiar to when Harry had woken up three weeks after the troll in First Year. The roles, however, had been reversed.

Hermione squeezed Harry’s hand, remembering that he had done so in their First Year. Unexpectedly, Harry woke up and looked around confused until his gaze sharpened and he suddenly turned his head toward Hermione. Chocolate brown eyes met bright emerald green eyes.

“Hermione?” croaked Harry. She was surprised to see bags under Harry’s eyes. He looked really tired. She realised that she must have been out for a few days. Hermione nodded to Harry. “Thank Merlin.” he said, bursting out crying. His head fell back on her lap and Hermione took him in her arms. She slowly led Harry upward until his head was resting on her shoulders. With a kiss on the top of his head, she whispered in his ear “It’s alright. I’m here, I’m fine. I’m with you, Harry.” in repetition until he calmed down.

“I wouldn't have survived  if I had lost you as well...”

The blood drained from Hermione’s face, a cold feeling washing over her spine. “What do you mean, ‘as well’?”

Harry froze before he started sobbing again. “Hermione... Hermione...”

“Harry... please... who?”

“S-Sirius!” he said. Hermione gasped. “S-Sirius is... he is d-dead!”

“No!” she said before she started crying as well. The couple held each other for a few minutes until both had stopped crying. “Who else?”

“H-He was the only one.” whispered Harry. “O-Other got injured however. Ron got hurt by giant b-brains, Ginny’s ankle and N-Neville’s nose were broken and Luna got a c-concussion. T-Tonks is also at St-Mungo's c-currently but she should be fine.”

“Everyone else is alright?”

“Yes.” whispered Harry. “Everyone else is fine.”

“Thank Merlin.” she said.

…

“I’m sorry.”

Knowing that Harry was blaming himself, as he always did, she said “Don’t. I don’t blame you for ending up here so don’t blame yourself.”

“But it was a trap! And you knew but you still came because of me and ended up injured!”

Taking his head in her hands, she slowly lifted it until his face was straight in front of hers’. She kissed him. Harry happily kissed back, albeit rather slowly at first. “Listen here Harry. It was my decision to follow you. You tried to make me stay behind and I came for you. It is not your fault.”

Her stubborn boyfriend finally relented before posing his head on her chest. “I love you.” he whispered.

“I love you too.” she answered back. She was about to tell him to go to sleep when she remembered their first year. Hermione slowly moved herself away from Harry, to his confusion, before she let enough distance between them for someone else to climb on the bed. Hermione smiled before tapping the empty spot on the bed. Harry smiled in recognition.

“Wouldn’t Madam Pomfrey be angry at us?”

“Well... she didn’t punish us in First Year, did she?”

“No, but we weren’t hormonal teenagers either.” said Harry with a small snort. However, he didn’t protest and climbed on the bed.

“Sleep Harry. You look tired. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Yes...” whispered Harry, already falling asleep. “Goodnight Hermione.”

“Goodnight Harry.”

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up confused. He didn’t remember going back to Gryffindor Tower yet he was clearly sleeping on a bed. He could see through the window a dark pink sky, indicating that the Sun was rising. He was also confused by the sudden weight on the left side of his chest. Turning around, he was shocked to see Hermione. Her hair was splattered all around the pillows while her head was resting on his chest.

And then, everything came flooding back. He remembered now how she had woken up in the middle of the night and let him sleep on her bed. Harry smiled goofily before he put his nose in Hermione’s hair.

“Morning handsome.” muttered Hermione.

“Morning beautiful.” said Harry. “How are you?”

“My chest hurt but it’s nothing potions cannot help with.” she answered, her head still on his chest. “You?”

Harry had learned a long time ago that “I’m fine.” just didn’t cut it with Hermione anymore. She knew that his “I’m fine.” meant anything but that and had requested that Harry stop hiding his feelings from her when he was hurt. He decided to just blurt everything out without thinking about it.

“Physically, I’m alright. Mentally, not so much. I’m worried about you and everyone else who was injured, I can’t help but blame myself for what happened, I’m still mourning Sirius and I am bloody pissed at Dumbledore for what he did to us.”

Hermione frowned. She expected everything he said. Everything but his comment at Dumbledore. “What did he do to us?” she asked. She felt Harry tense. “Harry?” she asked, raising her head to look in his eyes.

“I’m not sure it’s the right moment to talk about it...” said Harry, avoiding her eyes.

“Harry... please...” she whispered.

Her boyfriend sighed. “You remember the prophecy, right?”

“What happened to it?” she asked, suddenly. She had completely forgotten about it.

“The sphere was smashed when Neville dropped it during the battle.” he said. “However, that sphere was a copy stored in the Department of Mysteries. The prophecy had been made to someone who was later able to tell it to me.”

“Who?”

“Dumbledore. The prophecy goes as follow: ‘ _ The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. …’” _

“What does it mean?”

“It  means that someone both at the end of July of parents who defied Voldemort three times would be the only one to have a chance at defeating him.”

“Y-You?” whispered Hermione, her skin becoming whiter.

Harry nodded. “It could have been two boys. Neville or I but Voldemort choose me and  _ ‘marked him as his equal,’ _ ” he said, pointing at his scar.

Hermione was slowly trembling in fear. Harry noticed that and took her in his arms. “I love you Harry.” she said. “I’ll always be with you, to the end.”

“I love you too Hermione.” he said, content to just hold her. 

The couple stayed silent for a few minutes before Hermione spoke again. “Is the prophecy what you said Dumbledore did to us?”

“No, but it led to that.” he said. “Do you remember when you refused your parents’ idea of adopting me?” he asked. Hermione froze. Why was Harry asking her that?

“Y-Yes... why are you...”

“Hermione, please, tell me how you felt?”

She sighed. “Well at first, I was happy but before I could say anything, I just suddenly felt angry at the idea without knowing why. It was like I had been hit with a Compul...” she said before her eyes widened. “N-No... he didn’t?” she pleaded.

Harry nodded sadly, knowing that Hermione had reached the right conclusion. There was a reason why she was considered the brightest witch of her age. Tears leaked out of Hermione’s eyes. “Why?”

“After what happened to my parents, Dumbledore brought me to Privet Drive. He wanted me to live with a blood relation of my mother so that he could put powerful protections based on the love of my mother. Dumbledore told me that many wizarding families had wanted to get guardianship of me but Dumbledore had fought all of their offers. In a way, it was a good thing since some families like the Malfoys and  Lestranges tried to get my guardianship which would have been a disaster but for others, it wasn’t. Some good families like the Weasleys also wanted me but Dumbledore was able to talk them out of it. What he couldn’t do however was talk muggles out of adopting me since they didn’t know Dumbledore and he held no power in the muggle world. So, when a small family of two dentists and a small girl living at Privet Drive tried to adopt me, Dumbledore caught wind of it and went to meet the young family hoping to stop them from doing so. He found the family while they were sitting outside of an ice-cream parlour. He heard the parents talk about moving out of town with both me and their daughter and Dumbledore realised that he couldn’t allow it if he wanted me to stay under the protections so when the parents asked their daughter about her opinion, he... he sent a Compulsion Charm on her to reject the idea and then one Compulsion Charm on each parent to make them move out the next day...”

“Dumbledore separated us?” cried Hermione. For so long, she had believed that it was her fault and had endlessly blamed herself for it. To hear from her boyfriend, the other victim that it had been Dumbledore all along, a man she highly respected hurt her a lot.

“Yes. I’m sorry.” said Harry, holding her even closer to him.

…

“You’re coming to Crawley with us.”

“W-What?”

“You’re coming with us. It might be ten years too late but you are coming home.”

“Home...” smiled Harry. “I can’t wait until we have our own home.” he said, making Hermione smile as well.

“Maybe we could have a small home in a village?”

“Like my parents had in Godric’s Hollow. We could have our own small cottage in a mixed muggle and wizarding village.”

“With a backyard so that our kids could fly with their father...” she said,  smiling to Harry.

“And a big enough library where they could read with their mother...” he said before sighing. “I really hope I will survive the war because that’s my dream, that’s what I want for our future.”

“You will survive or I will revive you just to kill you myself.” said Hermione seriously before she started giggling. Harry quickly followed with a chuckle.

* * *

Hermione sighed before closing her book. Harry had spent the last ten minutes pacing in their compartment. In a way, she couldn’t make him stop as she knew he was anxious. She also was.

While Hermione was in the Hospital Wing, she had written a letter to her parents explaining everything that had happened in the last few days including Dumbledore’s confession before asking if Harry could come live with them that summer. The Grangers had been incensed to learn of the truth and had readily accepted to host Harry until they returned to Hogwarts.

Harry was nervous because in less than ten minutes, he would be reunited with the only two adults he had trusted and loved during his childhood, the only ones had come the closest to feeling like parents to Harry than anyone else. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had come close as well but not as much as Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

Another reason why Harry was anxious was because he had been pretty much avoiding them ever since he had reunited with Hermione. Thankfully, they had really only been close to each other when they were at King’s Cross. It had been easy to avoid them when going to the platform because the Grangers always dropped Hermione early while Harry always arrived late and coming back, Harry was always one of the last to leave Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters although in that case, it was more about avoiding the Dursleys for as long as possible.

But now? Harry was about to meet them.

He hadn’t seen them since he was five-years-old. He had glanced at them in the past but that was it. He was also anxious about how he would be treated by them now that he was Hermione’s boyfriend.

“Harry.” said Hermione, finally speaking up. “Just sit down.”

“Yeah mate.” said Ron. “I know you are anxious but pacing doesn’t help anyone.”

Harry sighed before he sat down alongside Hermione. His girlfriend gave him a reassuring smile before she put her arm around his waist. Harry did the same to her and together, they waited for the train to arrive at the station.

Precisely seven minutes later, the Hogwarts Express arrived at Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters. Harry and Hermione were already ready to go and left the train together before crossing the barrier toward the muggle side of the station.

“Do you see them around?” asked Hermione to her boyfriend. However, Harry didn’t answer as his eyes were fixed on a point in front of him. Looking in the same direction, Hermione found her parents. “Let’s go Harry.” she whispered comfortably to him. She saw him give her a small nod but he looked like he was about to throw up. “It’s going to be fine. They never forgot about you and already love you.” she said before slowly dragging Harry toward her parents.

“Mum! Dad!” she nearly shouted to them when they were only a few feet from them. Hermione immediately took her father in a hug before doing the same to her mother. Harry stopped behind her, letting the family reunite.

After receiving a hug from their daughter Daniel and Emma looked at her companion: Harry Potter. They hadn’t ‘seen’ him since he was five-years-old although they had glanced at him in the past and had seen his picture on the Daily Prophet many times. It was obvious to both parents that Harry looked incredibly uncomfortable and nervous.

“Hey Harry!” said Dan, trying to break the tension. “You’re all grown up!” Harry smirked, not knowing whether it was meant as a compliment or if it was just stated as a fact. Emma however decided that there was only one way to bring Harry out of his anxious shell. She walked to him and took him in a bone crushing hug. Harry gasped in surprise.

“I’m so sorry that we left you behind.” whispered Emma in Harry’s ear. “We saw you as the son we never had, yet we left without you.”

“It’s not your fault.” said Harry, speaking for the first time. “Dumbledore used magic on all three of you to do exactly that.”

“Still...” she started but was  interrupted by Harry.

“I forgive you, if that’s what you want to know.”

“Thanks.” she said emotionally. Emma let go of Harry before whipping the few tears that had leaked out.

“Emma is right.” said Dan. “For us, you were the son we never had and you were always welcomed at the Grangers and you will always be.” before he offered his hand. 

Harry shook it. “Thanks Sir.”

“Arg. Don’t call me ‘Sir’!” he said, making both women giggles. “Just call me Dan.” he said, smiling.

“And Emma.” said Emma.

“Thanks.” said Harry, smiling.

“Well, shall we go then?” asked Hermione. The group all nodded and, together, they left the station. The family was reunited for the first time in more than ten years...

* * *

“And that’s how I was reunited with  Grandmum and Granddad!” said Harry with a grin.

“When will we visit  Grandmum and Granddad?” asked Rose.

“This weekend!” answered Hermione immediately.

“Really?” said both Harry and Rose.

“Yes. We need to talk to them about... a few things.”

“Oh okay.” said Harry. “...About what?”

“Later.”

“Oh okay.”

“Anyway...” continued Hermione. “That summer was one of my best summer vacations I ever had.”

“Same thing. Easily the best one for me.” said Harry. “With your grandparents, we left the country and travelled to Germany! We spent a lot of time there and it was lovely. It really helped me come out of my semi-depression from Sirius’ death. When we came back, I visited Gringotts for Sirius’ Will reading and found out that I inherited everything he owned, including  Grimmauld Place. I also found out that my own Grandparents had owned a house that they had left to my parents, which I inherited. It became important the following summer.” said Harry.

“Where is it?” asked Rose.

“Shipton’s Lynn.”

“But that’s here!” said Rose.

“Yep! That,” he said, throwing his arms round to indicate the house “once was my grandparents. That’s where your Grandfather James grew up.” he said which made Rose grin. She had her mother’s grin.

“Our sixth year at school was pretty basic.” said Hermione. “We had a small problem in the first few months because of the Half-Blood Prince Potions textbook but after Harry let me study it in detail, I figured that there was no problem with the modified potions  recipes .”

“During that year, Professor Dumbledore decided to be more open to us and he told us about Voldemort’s biggest secret. After he died, we were set on a mission to go hunt special objects that helped Voldemort stay immortal.”

“Before we left for the summer however, Hermione figured that her parents would be in danger from Death Eaters and we all decided together that they would hide in my grandparents’ house while we left for our hunt. The war escalated during the hunt and Voldemort took over the Ministry of Magic. Things were looking grim and I’m ashamed to say that I wasn’t sure if we would survive the war. So, one morning, I had an idea...


	11. Godric's Hollows

Harry and Hermione apparated in a snowy lane under a dark blue sky, in which the night’s first stars were already glimmering feebly. Cottages stood on either side of the road; cottages filled with Christmas decorations. The narrow road led to the centre of the village. 

“We should have taken Polyjuice potion.” whispered Hermione from under the Invisibility Cloak. 

“No.” said Harry quietly. “This is where I lived with my parents. I’m not returning as someone else...” 

Harry and Hermione slowly walked toward the village centre. The door of a nearby pub opened, releasing a snatch of laughter and pop music. When the door closed back, the young couple could hear a carol start up inside the little church. 

“Harry, I think it’s Christmas Eve!” said Hermione. 

“Is it?” Both of them had lost track of the date. The last time they had seen a calendar was when they had brought Ron to Dan and Emma in Harry’s Grandparents’ house. Ron had caught a very bad flu and his two friends had sent him to recover in their hideout. That had been on the 10th of December... 

“I’m sure it is.” said Hermione, her eyes fixed on the local church. 

“Do you think...” started Harry before the words caught in his throat. Hermione looked at him and realised he was looking at the graveyard. 

“Yes.” said Hermione. “I think they are.” 

Taking each other’s hand, the couple slowly walked toward the graveyard. There was a kissing gate at the entrance which Hermione slowly pushed open. Behind the church lay row upon row of snowy tombstones. Harry and Hermione slowly walked through the graveyard, trying to find the grave of James and Lily Potter... 

The couple walked past the grave of Aliana Abbott, which they guessed was a long lost relative of their Hufflepuff friend Hannah, past the grave of Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore, their late Headmaster’s mother and sister. The couple also found the grave of one Ignotus Peverell but neither really focused on it, only stopping to take note of the significance of the weird symbol they had found in the book Dumbledore had left Hermione. 

“Let’s keep looking for my parents.” said Harry to his girlfriend, almost on a pleading tone. Hermione nodded, knowing he was anxious, that it was very hard to be here for him. A few minutes later, Hermione found them... 

“Harry... they’re here... right here...” she said, looking at a marble white headstone. Harry froze, feeling as if something heavy were pressing on his chest, the same sensation he had after both Sirius and Dumbledore had died, after believing for a short period of time that Hermione had been killed in the Department of Mysteries... 

Neither Harry nor Hermione needed to approach the headstone to be able to read the words engraved upon it. 

_JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER_

_BORN 27 MARCH 1960_

_LILY JULIA POTTER_

_BORN 30 JANUARY 1960_

_DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981_

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

Harry stepped toward the grave and fell on his knees trembling. Hermione sat down on her knees beside him and took his hand. Harry read the words aloud. 

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death... Isn’t that a Death Eater idea?” he questioned with a bit of panic. “Why is it there?” 

“That’s not what it means Harry...” whispered Hermione emotionally. “Death can’t be destroyed. It means... you know... living beyond death. Living after death...” 

But they were gone, they were not living. The words might mean something philosophically but it couldn’t hide the fact that his parents’ remains lay beneath the snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. Before he could stop them, big hot tears came and slowly slipped down his cheeks. He was half tempted to wipe them but, what was the point? Underneath him, six-foot deep, laid the remains of parents' bodies, being nothing but dust and bones, not knowing or caring that their living son and the love of his life stood so near, his heart still beating for her, alive because of their sacrifice. Had it not been for the young woman visiting their grave, their son would be wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them... 

Hermione withdrew her wand and conjured a bouquet of roses and lilies, which Harry caught in his hands and laid it on his parents’ grave. That had been the last straw for Harry. A sob escaped his throat and before Hermione could react, Harry let out a loud, painful cry. The young man had suffered too much ever since his parents’ death. He had managed to keep it all inside but, today, as he looked over the grave of James and Lily Potter with Hermione, he wasn't able to fight his emotions any longer and collapsed in his girlfriend’s arms, crying his emotions out. 

Hermione grabbed her crying boyfriend in her arms and held him with all the love she could. Seeing the man, she loved under so much pain made her heart hurt painfully, making her wish that she could absorb some of it for him. She couldn’t do much however and let him cry on her shoulder, knowing it would help Harry, knowing it would start the healing process for many of his emotional wounds... 

The young couple stayed in each other’s arms for a few minutes before Harry slowly made to stand up. He had planned on visiting his parents’ cottage but he did not think he would be able to stand it, not today. Keeping one arm around each other’s waist, the couple slowly walked away from James and Lily, neither knowing whether the next time they would see them would be here in the graveyard or in the afterlife. Harry and Hermione silently walked past Ignotus Peverell’s grave, past Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore’s, past Aliana Abbott’s, back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate... 

Hermione slowly led Harry toward a point where they could apparate, knowing that neither of them were of any state to visit Bathilda Bagshot. As they walked past an old Second World War memorial, Hermione stopped dead, gasping. 

“Hermione?” croaked Harry. 

“Harry, look!” she whispered to him with a nod toward the memorial. Harry looked at it and realised that it had transformed. It wasn’t about the Second World War anymore. It was about his family... 

Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was a statue of three people: a man with messy black hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother’s arms. Snow lay upon their heads, like fluffy white caps. 

Harry drew closer, unknowingly dragging Hermione, who was still holding him. He wanted to look at his parents’ faces. He had never imagined seeing himself represented as a happy baby without a scar on his forehead. His parents looked happy, so happy. And Harry realised why. While they had died very young and lived through one of the worst magical wars on British soil in History, they had achieved their dream of having a family for themselves. Even with everything happening in the world, they hadn’t let that come to them and they had decided to marry, to have a child, a home for themselves. They had managed to be happy together, even when their friends were slowly killed by madmen, even when their son was mentioned in a prophecy, even when their only child was targeted by Lord Voldemort himself, even when they were locked up in their own house, afraid of leaving its safety and die at the hands of the Dark Lord. Even with all of that, they had been happy, because they had each other, because they had him. 

That realisation struck hard with Harry. Harry had been the opposite. Harry had let the war and Voldemort come to him. He was sure that had he not already been dating Hermione when Voldemort was resurrected, he would never have asked her out for fear of putting her in more danger than she already was. So often he had sacrificed his happiness, their happiness because of the war. Harry didn’t want to do that anymore. He knew he couldn’t withdraw from the fight but he didn’t want the war to dictate his life anymore. In a split second, he took a decision. 

“Marry me.” he whispered. 

“What?” whispered Hermione back, not believing what Harry had just said. 

“Marry me. I’m tired of letting the war dictate our lives. My parents didn’t let it get to them and neither do I want to. They sacrificed themselves so that I could live, not survive. I want to marry you, Hermione Jean Granger, the love of my life. I fear for what could happen to us but I don’t want to let Voldemort dictate our lives. It might be our only chance... Marry me, please...” 

“Yes.” she said, tears running down her cheeks. “Yes, I’ll marry you...” 

“Tomorrow... Maybe we could go to the church and ask if we can be married tomorrow, on Christmas.” 

“You want us to elope?” 

“Yes. We can invite Ron and your parents but that’s it. We should still keep it a secret. I just... I just don’t want to be Hermione Granger’s boyfriend anymore. I want to be Hermione Potter’s husband...” 

“And I want to be Harry Potter’s wife...” said Hermione, kissing his cheek. “Let’s see if we can get married tomorrow...” 

The new fiancés walked back toward where they came from but instead of entering the graveyard, they entered the church. 

Neither Harry nor Hermione had ever entered a church. The Grangers had never been religious while the Dursleys had never brought their ‘freak wizard of a nephew’ to the church. The young couple noticed that the church was empty but preparing for that night’s Christmas Eve Mass. The pastor of the church, an old, blad and small man with a kind face was overseeing a last repetition of the carol. The pastor noticed them and with a kind smile, approached the young couple who was still holding each other’s arms. 

“Hello, sir.” said Harry to the pastor. “My fiancé and I were visiting my parents. Hermione and I are going through a very tough part of our life and we want to bring some happiness to ourselves. We were wondering if it was possible to get married tomorrow...?” 

The pastor smiled sadly at the couple. “You are James and Lily’s son, are you?” he asked. 

“Yes...” whispered Harry emotionally with a small nod. 

“I saw you through the window.” he said. “I know it is many, many years later but I am sorry for your loss. James and Lily were good people, always helping our villagers in their everyday life.” 

“I’m happy to hear.” smiled Harry. 

“I am Father Stephen.” said the pastor, introducing himself to the couple. 

“Harry.” said Harry. 

“And I am Hermione, his fiancé.” said Hermione. She would have been beaming had she and Harry not just come back from a very emotional visit. 

“It is a bit late but it would be possible to marry you tomorrow. The villagers of Godric’s Hollow spend their Christmas at home with their family so you would not disturb anyone. Will it be a small or large wedding?” asked Father Stephen. 

“Small.” answered Hermione. “Only my parents and our best friend are invited.” 

Father Stephen nodded. “Then, shall we say, at 7PM, tomorrow night?” he asked. 

“That would be perfect.” said Harry. 

“Then it shall be.” 

“Thank you, Father.” said Hermione. Harry nodded to him. 

“It is nothing, my children. Go to your family, celebrate Christmas Eve and be happy.” the old pastor said with a smile. 

With a last nod, Harry and Hermione left the church. Back in the village centre, Harry said “Let’s go pack the tent. Father Stephen is right. I want to spend Christmas Eve with Ron and your parents. I want to go home.” 

Hermione gave him a kiss on the lips. “Let’s go home.” Together, the young couple dissaparated from Godric’s Hollow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do my throat feel raw? :(


End file.
